


From Normals To Freaks

by TooMuchGayForOneBody



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Ace Hunk, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Angst, Bottom Keith (Voltron), F/F, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gay Keith, Gay Sex, Gen, Hetero Hunk, M/M, Masturbation, Mild Gore, Pan Lance, Queer Shiro, Top Lance (Voltron), non binary pidge, please tell me any mistakes you see :), smut in later chapters, the power of fucking friendship, they/them pronouns for Pidge, we are educated in this house
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-13
Updated: 2019-06-08
Packaged: 2019-06-27 02:48:50
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 22,183
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15676494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TooMuchGayForOneBody/pseuds/TooMuchGayForOneBody
Summary: After five strangers -Shirogane Takashi, Keith Kogane, Lance Rodriguez, Hunk Garrett, and Pidge Gunderson- all end up at a beach event and it ends up getting shot, what will happen when the five wake up weeks later with powers? And how bad will it get when they find out about their new enemies?





	1. Beach Party

**Keith**

With a heavy sigh, Keith walked down the streets, he wasn't exactly keen on going to a stupid party but his adoptive older brother, Shiro, was forcing him to go. In one hand he had a towel and a few books -like hell he was actually gonna be doing stuff at that stupid thing- and in my other, was his phone and he was scrolling through Tumblr.

Suddenly, Keith ran into a firm surface, making him stop and look up to see Shiro with a smirk. He was wearing a black tank top and white swim trunks, he made sure to bring a large bag for his prosthetic right arm, he didn't want any sand or water getting in it.

"You know you should look up from your phone," he smirked, the two were at a stop light waiting for the sign to tell them to go.

"Yeah yeah, whatever," the Korean scowled and attempted to put his phone in his front pocket before realizing it was fake and slipping the phone into his back pocket.

"If you were wearing different clothes you would've been able to do that," Shiro pointed out.

Yes, Keith wore odd clothes but simply because they made him look amazing. He was wearing a white crop top that said 'No.' in black, blocky letters across the front. He had black short shorts, that greatly complimented his ass, on with black converse as well. He also had his hair pulled back into a ponytail.

"I look great in this," he replied," and why do you care?"

"Because the only reason you dress like that is because of your stupid boyfriend Kevin," Shiro said as they began to walk again.

"Well when you say it like 'Kevin' then it does sound bad but if you just say 'Kevin' then it sounds fine," Keith replied.

"He's just using you for your body, Keith, I'm serious. I don't like him," he glanced down at the other, looking unhappy.

"He is not," he grumbled,"He just likes my body!"

"How many dates have you gone on with him in the last month?"  
     
"......zero."

"And how many times have you had sex?"

".....I'd rather not disclose that number."

"Exactly," he pronounced every syllable of the word.

The younger boy grumbled and looked away from Shiro, a blush dusting his face as he told himself that Kevin wasn't just using him for his body. He then planned to ask him to go out on a date, seeing that they really didn't see each other much outside of sex and hanging out with Kevin friends.

Soon the two got to the beach and set up a small area right by the entrance. Keith sat down on a towel and put one earbud in before playing music and opening his first book. After a while, Shiro came over and forced him to at least get some food, so he did, he also had a quick chat with the host, thanking him for inviting him. Once he got to where he had been previously and sat down, someone sat next to him.

"Sorry, I must be sitting in the wrong space," Keith murmured and started to grab his phone and get up.

"No, you're sitting in the right place, you've been alone this entire time though so I figured you'd like some company," the male replied,"The name's Lance."

Lance was loud and annoying, the first thing Keith observed. The second thing he noticed was how lanky he was, he had to be at least 5'10", making Keith's 5'4" seem small. He had caramel colored skin, beautiful blue eyes, and dark brown hair, Keith would be lying if he said Lance wasn't attractive.

"Keith Kogane," he thrust his hand towards him.

He smirked and shook it before laughing,"You know this is a party, right? You don't need to be formal."

"U-uh, sorry," Keith apologized and took his hand back,"I'm not used to this quite yet."

"To partying?!"

"That, and introducing myself to people."

"I'm gonna have to fix that," he grumbled,"but let's start small! So what do you like to do?"

"Does it matter? I doubt that we'll ever meet again," he stated, starting to get annoyed.

"But we might! Maybe we end up hanging out," he exclaimed.

Keith scowled at Lance before saying,"I enjoy researching the Cryptic's."

"Really? You'll have to meet my friend Pidge! They do that all the time, sometimes they don't shut up about that but I mean they look happy so I let them talk," he babbled,"Though, my best friend is definitely Hunk. He's like a freaking cuddly bear person and he gives the best hugs, you want to go meet them?"

"Thanks, but no thanks," Keith replied,"I'm here because my brother forced me to come, not because I wanted to come to make friends."

"Well look at you now! You accidentally made a friend -that's me by the way- so why not make more?!"

He grumbled and turned away. Lance must've gotten that he wasn't interested in conversation because he finally got up and left. Keith went back to his book only to be interrupted again.

"Give me my book back, Shirogane," he glowered.

"Ooh last name, I'm so intimidated," he joked,"Come on, just come and stand by me. I don't like seeing you be so antisocial, it worries me sometimes."

The Korean groaned as he pulled the other up, dragging Keith towards a crowd of people. He sighed softly and listened to Shiro speak with his friends and coworkers.

"See you decided to get up finally," Keith heard a voice laugh so he turned to see who it was.

"It was Lance, right," he asked and he started to smile a little.

"Yeah, glad to know you remembered," he said.

"I'm guessing this is Hunk and Pidge," Keith asked.

"Yeah, I'm Hunk," a big guy stuck his hand out.

He was a little heavy set and looked nice in orange swim trunks that had the 'classic Hawaiian pattern' on them. He had dark skin, eyes, and hair, along with a happy smile on his face.

"Call me Pidge," the smaller....person added.

They had fairly short, dirty blond hair that flared out at the ends. Their large, circular glasses framed their golden eyes nicely and they had a white shirt with two big blue stripes on the chest and green swim trunks.

"Keith," the palest of the four said, remembering how he was scolded for sharing his last name by Lance.

"So who invited you? Not trying to be rude, just never heard of you," Pidge explained quickly.

"My brother," he said and lazily pointed back to Shiro.

At the mention of himself, Shiro turned towards the group and smiled when he saw the others before hopefully asking,"Friends?"

"Moreover acquaintances," Keith corrected.

"Takashi Shirogane," he introduced himself.

"Hey, I don't mean to freak you guys out, but do you guys also see the creepy guys that have us surrounded," Hunk suddenly asked and they looked around.

Sure enough, there were people surrounding them, making Keith tense up and scoot a little closer to Shiro.

"Should I go get your arm," he asked,"I'm getting extremely bad feelings from them."

"I'll get it, and I'm feeling the same way. Stay together for now," Shiro replied.

As soon as he moved, though, loud bangs ripped through the air before shrill screams filled their ears. Suddenly, there was a terrible pain in Keith's right arm, and then everything went black.

\--

Where am I? It's so bright. What happened? Oh yeah, the party.....Shiro......Where is he? Open your eyes all the way god d*** it!

Keith forced his eyes open to look around. He was in a hospital bed. He groaned softly and forced himself to sit up, pushing down a headache and want to vomit. He started to try to pull out his IV's when he noticed an Officer staring at him.

"Uh....hello," he smiled sheepishly and slowly put the tape back on his arm.

"Hello, I'm Officer Green, I'm here to talk to you about a shooting you may have been involved in," he explained.

Officer Green had short brown hair and a fancy black and white suit and tie. He was obviously at least 6 feet tall and could knock someone out with one punch, he was not someone to mess with.

"Yeah, yeah, but where's my brother? Is he alright? Does he have his arm? He's got a prosthetic right arm, did he get that from the site," the shorter asked quickly.

"Calm down, he's sleeping in his room and he's fine. We found his prosthetic and gave it to him, along with other belongings. Now can I get on with the questions," he asked, seeming to be irritated.

"Yes sir, sorry sir," Keith apologized.

"Can you recall the events that went down that day?"

"I remember waking up and taking a shower before eating breakfast. After that, I went to work until lunch where I came back and Takashi brought me to the party. I didn't want to go because I'm not very social so I tried to stay away from people but someone started talking to me. His name was......uh...Lance, I think. Once he left me alone Takashi forced me to go stand with him. I saw Lance again there and his friends, I can't remember their names, but one of them pointed out weird men surrounding us, then......I can't remember..."

"'Lance'," he quoted,"Was he lanky? Brown hair and blue eyes?"

"Yeah, yeah," he nodded,"why do you ask?"

"He was also shot," he replied,"What did the men look like?"

"Um, dark purple jackets with the hood up to cover their faces, and purple masks to cover the rest of their faces. I think they had on black jeans, but I couldn't tell anything too specific about them."

With that, he left and Keith sighed softly. He turned to his side and smiled when he saw my phone on his side table, it had a new text.

 **Kevin** ❤️: Hey baby, wanna come over for some Netflix and chill ;)  
**You** : Wish I could but I'm in the hospital right now, I got shot  
**Kevin** ❤️: Seriously????  
**You** : Yeah, I was involved in the shooting at the beach  
**Kevin** ❤️: Any idea when you're getting out  
**You** : No, I've only talked to a cop, you could always come down here though and we could watch Netflix minus the chill  
**Kevin** ❤️: Haha sorry but I can't, just realized I got work gtg bye  
**You** : Bye

Keith sighed softly and shot a text to Shiro, telling him he was awake and asking him how he was doing before pressing the nurse button. Soon a nurse showed up and smiled at him.

"Glad to see you're awake, Mr. Kogane," she said as she started to check his vitals,"Do you need anything?"

"Uh no, I was just wondering when am I going to get out of here," Keith explained.

"Luckily you didn't get too serious of a shot so only for about one or two more days!"

"'More days'? What do you mean?"

"You haven't been told? You slept all through yesterday sweetie! It wasn't a coma, so don't worry, your body was just exhausted!"

"Oh......," Keith mumbled.

"If you would like, you can get up and walk around."

"Could I go see my adoptive brother? Takashi Shirogane?"

"Of course you can," she smiled and moved a few wires before helping the boy up.

Keith thanked her and she told him Shiro was room 164. He started making his way over there, dragging his IV with him.

"Keith! Oh thank god you're alright," he heard a familiar voice sigh.

"I'm glad you're alright as well, Lance," Keith replied, noticing Lance was hobbling over on crutches,"How are you're friends?"

"Hunk is surprisingly well and Pidge is talking with their brother and mom," he answered,"Where are you off to?"

"Room 164, Shiro is in there," he mumbled as they made our way to the room.

"'Shiro'?"

"That's what I call Takashi, mostly because he got embarrassed when I called him Tashi in front of his friends."

"Understandable, my little siblings always call me 'Dad' in front my friends, back in Cuba, then they would call me stuff like 'Old Man' and what not..."

"Why do they call you 'Dad'? You don't have to answer if you don't want to."

"My dad.......passed away when I was young and my siblings were either babies or not even born," he replied,"They don't remember him so I have been their father figure ever since. I don't tell them to stop calling me that though, I just deal with my friends. But this one time -ahahaha- I got fed up and I punched a guy!"

"That's rough, losing a parent I mean," he mumbled.

"Did one of your.....," he trailed off awkwardly," Sorry, that was insensitive, I should have known that!"

"It's fine. Both of my parents died when I was young," he replied.

"Damn..."

"Yeah, I️ still have nightmares about it."

"That sucks major ass..."

"Should you be walking," Keith asked as they stopped in front of Shiro's door.

"Why?"

"You got shot in the leg! That can not be good to walk on," Keith exclaimed before sighing,"Come in here and sit down..."

Lance obeyed and followed Keith into the room. He frowned when he saw that Shiro's chest had been bandaged, he didn't like seeing him like that.

Keith walked over to Shiro's side table and grabbed the plastic bag with his prosthetic in it, opening it up with a hopeful feeling. That feeling completely disappeared when he picked it up and sand poured out of it.

"Oh come on," he whined,"Fuck..."

"I'm guessing it's ruined," Lance stated.

"Probably, unless I can get just about every grain out of this....."

Keith took it over to the trash can and started gently picking out different grains of sand, sighing softly. After a few minutes though, there was a slight shift in the sheets so he turned around to see Shiro awake.

"Keith? Keith! Are you alright," he asked and tried to sit up but winced and laid back down.

"I'm fine, you know I've had worse, but you got shot in the chest," he replied,"so relax, it's all okay now."

"No Keith, there's more to this! The-," he stopped when he saw Lance who looked scared, so he coughed slightly before saying,"警察が来る前に、私たちが射殺された後、誰かが私のところに来ました。彼は私たちの人生が.....殺されたと私に言った。彼は「Balmera」と呼ばれる店で現われることについて何か言った。(Someone came up to me after we got shot, before the police came. He told me that our lives got ..... killed. He said something about showing up at a shop called 'Balmera'.)"

"私は彼を信用しない(I don't trust him)," the other grumbled.

"私もそうはしませんが、奇妙なことが起き始めると私はそこに行くと言います。(Nor do I, but if something weird starts happening I say we go there.)," he said and Keith nodded.

"Uh, should I be worried," Lance squeaked.

"No," Keith replied,"What are you going to do about your arm?"

"I'll only have one for a while," he chuckled.

"Told you should've gotten another," Keith glared.


	2. Broken Hearts

**Keith**

It was Keith's last day at the hospital and he was planning on visiting Kevin once he got out, he was actually coming to pick the Korean up.

Keith had already changed from his scrubs to a more comfortable outfit. A plain black crop top and jean short shorts with black fishnet leggings underneath. He was still wearing my black converse since it was all he had right then.

As he was getting his last things, he sighed softly, he was extremely ready to leave this place. Keith walked out the door and headed to Shiro's room, everyone else was already either gone or getting ready to be picked up and he was stuck here for a few more days, but the Korean just wanted to see him either way.

Once Keith walked into his room, he saw that Shiro was awake. He smiled softly, clearly exhausted because his body was using all of its energy to heal.

"You look like crap," Keith laughed.

"Thanks, always love hearing that," he replied and sat up.

"When are you getting out," the first asked.

"Three days," the other sighed in annoyance before getting serious," but seriously tell me if anything weird happens, I overheard some nurses gossiping, they said that the shooters either had to have horrendous aim or they were purposely trying to not hit bone.

"They also said that....well.....the tip was made of glass, something was put in us. When they ran a test to find something though, they found no foreign things in our body; liquid, solid, or gas."

"Maybe they were talking about someone else," Keith offered in a panic.

"They used names, Keith," he told the boy in a low, serious tone,"just please, be careful and come to me if anything seems weird."

Keith gulped before nodding. The two exchanged goodbyes and he told Shiro to take it easy. Once he exited that room though, his mind was swimming.

'What did they put in me? Is it something that's going to kill me? Oh god, what if it's something like AIDs?! I mean, no offense to the people who have it, but no thank you, I like having sex. Which reminds me, I need to talk to Kevin about going on more dates, then Shiro will see that he's a good boyfriend....'

Keith was about to walk outside when he noticed how dark it was. Awkwardly, he walked away from the doors, enough so he could still see outside but far enough away so they wouldn't open up.

"Keith, hey," Pidge smiled.

Shiro, Hunk, Lance, Pidge, and Keith had formed a small friendship, just enough to talk though.

"Hey, Pidge," Keith replied and they walked over to him,"Your arm feeling better?"

"Yeah, I thought being shot would be a lot worse but I passed out from shock pretty quickly so I didn't have to go through much," they told him.

"Same here, they also had us hyped up on painkillers half the time we were here so I barely felt anything while I was here, what about you," he asked.

"Didn't feel much either, I got pretty loopy though haha," they laughed awkwardly.

Keith laughed softly, pulling out his phone and texting Kevin, asking him if he was anywhere near, Keith was tired.

"You waiting for someone to pick you up, or do you know how to drive," they asked, chewing on their thumbnail.

"Yeah, my boyfriend is coming, what about you?"

"Lance is dropping me off at my place."

Keith nodded and hummed, picking up his phone when it buzzed. Kevin had texted him saying that he was in front of the hospital and ready to go.

"I gotta go now, have a good night," Keith waved as he walked outside.

"Bye," they waved in response.

Keith smiled as he saw Kevin's silver ford truck. He quickly climbed in and Kevin smirked at the smaller boy. He was taller than Keith and had more visible muscle -his white shirt showed it off quite nicely. His blond hair barely had any length to it on the sides but he had it pointed into sloppy tips in the front.

"Hey, Kevin," Keith smiled,"Thanks for picking me up."

"No problem, hot-stuff," he replied,"So I was thinkin' we could go back to my place..."

"Sure," he nodded and the second boy started up the car before speeding off.

"So you mind if I ask what exactly happened," he asked.

"Just some a**holes thought 'Hey, wouldn't it be a great idea to go shoot some people'," he joked,"Not too many people got hurt luckily, just me and a few friends."

"Oh, did they catch the goons?"

"No, sadly," he sighed,"but I'm fine now, at least I think I am."

The raven-headed boy's phone buzzed suddenly and he looked down at it, Shiro had texted me.

 **Shiro** : You're going over to Kevin's aren't you?  
 **You** : Yeah, why? He's a nice guy!!  
 **Shiro** : Just don't have sex, your body needs to heal and rest for a while more okay  
 **You** : Okay dad  
 **Shiro** : I MAY ONLY HAVE ONE ARM BUT I WILL STILL WHOOP YOUR ASS KOGANE  
 **You** : Jesus calm down, I wasn't even planning on it  
 **You** : I'm actually taking your advice and seeing if we can just go on more dates  
 **Shiro** : Good, you should try to make your relationships healthier.   
 **You** : Fuck off  
 **Shiro** : No thank you, I'm still in a hospital if you didn't know   
 **Shiro** : Also I know you just rolled your eyes  
 **You** : Mind reader  
 **Shiro** : Sure whatever, I need to go, a nurse is here, be safe and good night   
 **You** : Night

Keith shoved his phone in his pocket and looked up to see they were already at Kevin's apartment complex. They both got out and went up three flights of stairs before getting to his apartment.

"Here you go," he opened the door for Keith. 

Keith thanked him and walked inside,"So what do you wanna do?"

"Watch some Netflix, maybe a little bit of chill if ya know what I mean," he smirked and quickly put on a '10 Things I Hate About You'.

"I don't know about the 'chill' part of it, my brother told me we shouldn't," Keith told him.

"He doesn't need to know, does he," he chuckled and kissed him slowly.

Keith couldn't help but kiss back, he was entrancing and addictive. Part of him, luckily, knew that he would just hurt the stitches so he put a hand on Kevin's shoulder, gently pushing him back.

"No, we shouldn't, the stitches might rip somehow," he managed between rough kisses.

"How possible is that though," Kevin moved to his neck, sucking roughly.

"Just- ah," the Korean gasped and gripped his shirt before slight panic rushed in when he didn't stop after he had asked,"JUST WHAT ARE WE?"

Kevin stopped and looked at him, expecting an explanation.

"I-I mean, we've been involved for a few months but we never go out just to go out, it's always just-just booty calls! So can we actually go on dates like normal boyfriends?"

"'Boyfriends'," he asked.

"Yeah, that's what we are, right?"

He immediately moved off Keith,"No, we're fuck buddies."

"'Fuck buddies'," Keith was stunned.

"Yeah, I get horny and call you, you get horny and call me," he explained.

"So what you're telling me," he scoffed,"I've been calling you my boyfriend for months, rejecting much more attractive guys, dressing like a-a tramp, and wasting my time with your dumb, rude friends, for my 'fuck buddy'?!"

"I wouldn't call my friends rude, but dumb is about right," he hummed.

The fact that he only acknowledged that part of what Keith had said really boiled his blood. He threw himself off the couch, taking off his shirt before throwing it in the other's face.

"You know what? Go fuck yourself! Take back your skimpy, unflattering clothes," Keith said and tossed a shoe at him as he ran to hide behind the couch.

"Woah! Keith, baby, calm down," he yelped as his other shoe bounced off his head.

"DON'T. CALL. ME. BABY. YOU. PRICK," Keith yelled, taking off the things he bought for him in jerky movements and throwing them at him,"I expect you to delete my number and never talk to me again."

With that, Keith slammed the door shut, leaving the boy to walk home barefoot with only his underpants and with his phone. Keith walked down the stairs and down several streets, covering his body as much as possible while wiping away tears and grumbling curses at Kevin.

"Stupid whore," Keith growled before feeling someone put something on his back, making him nearly jump out of his skin.

"Keith, what are you doing out here like this? Did you get mugged?! Christ, be glad I could recognize your mullet anywhere," Lance sighed before getting a good look at his face,"Hey, what's wrong? Did you really get mugged?"

Keith quickly wiped my eyes,"I'm fine."

"Your crying, nearly naked, and shivering in the middle of the night, you're not alright," he replied.

Keith just grumbled, a shiver ripping through him, making him pull the jacket -that Lance had put on him- around him tighter. Lance huffed lightly, scolding the other for being stupid before rushing to his car. The two got in and before he started the car he started talking.

"Do you wanna tell me what happened?"

"I didn't have a boyfriend..."

"What?"

"I didn't have a fucking boyfriend," Keith slammed his hands against the dash,"I was just a fucking fuck buddy to him! I was just a-a," Keith stopped yelling and frowned tiredly,"Just a hole.."

It was silent for a second.

"He sounds like a dirtbag..."

"I have a habit for attracting those kinds of people..."

"That sucks," he muttered.

"Yeah.."

"Where do you live, I'll take you home."

"1658 Elmore Street," Keith told him and he nodded.

Lance started up his car and began driving,"So you wanna tell me how you lost your clothes?"

"I dressed like I did because he always said I looked nice in the clothes so like an insane person I threw them at him," Keith said and he laughed a little,"I hit him in the face with a shoe."

Lance smiled at the shorter boy, obviously holding back laughs,"You are amazing, insane, but amazing."

They were mostly silent for the rest of the way to Keith's house, only saying and asking which direction to go. Soon they pulled up to the apartment complex and Keith sighed softly.

"Thank you," he unbuckled his belt.

"No problem, keep my jacket until next time we cross paths," he smirked as Keith got out.

"Okay, I might have it for a while," Keith joked and leaned in the window.

He laughed with a smile,"That's fine, but next time you're walking home naked, call me."

Lance handed the other a slip of paper and Keith laughed softly,"I will. Bye, Lance."

"Bye, Keith," he pulled away from the building.

Keith walked in and headed up to his and Shiro's place, ignoring people's eyes. Once he got in the apartment he sighed happily, glad to be home.

The first thing you saw when you walked in was our black couch with red throw pillows pushed up against a wall. A small kitchenette was placed around the corner of the living room, they were on adjacent walls. Behind said wall, walks Keith's room while behind the opposite wall was Shiro's. Between the kitchen and the living room was a small dining room.

Keith walked into his room and into the bathroom in his room. He stripped of Lance's jacket and his underpants before starting up the shower, letting it warm, and getting in.

The boy nearly moaned when the water hit him, one of his favorite things to do is shower and the warm water almost felt too good on his freezing skin. Slowly, he laced shampoo and conditioner through his hair, letting it sink in before washing it out. After lathering my body with soap, he rinsed it off and stood in the water for a while longer.

'Shiro is going to give me his 'I told you so' dad speech when I visit him tomorrow.....I'm so not ready for that.....it was bad the first time but now it'll just be worse because I cared about him so much and Shiro hated him.....'

Keith sighed softly and got out of the shower, dried off, threw his clothes in the laundry bin, brushed his teeth, and finally went to bed.


	3. What's Happening?

**Keith**

He woke up to a loud thumping, definitely not a good way to wake up. Keith grumbled and forced himself up, his deep purple sheets shifting around him. He got up and stumbled out of his bedroom and to the front door, opening it up to see Mrs. Nesbit on the phone.

"Oh wait, he just opened the door, so he is home," she said into the phone with a smile,"Ok, bye bye, dear, get well soon! Shiro is going to call you, he seemed pretty worried about you!"

"Yeah," the male grumbled groggily,"Had a really rough night...he's gonna talk to me about it."

"Ooh. Well, try not to hurt yourself over it," she said, seeming worried,"Good luck."

"I'll need it...Have a good day, Mrs. Nesbit," he murmured before closing the door and going to his ringing phone,"Hey Shiro."

"Please try to answer your phone when I call you! Especially since I heard about what happened last night," he scolded, receiving a grumble.

"You heard about that already," Keith winced painfully.

"Yes, I wanted to know if you got home safely so I called you but you weren't answering so I called Kevin and he explained what happened. How did you get home? Nothing bad happened to you, right?"

"Nothing bad happened to me, Lance found me walking home and gave me a ride."

"Good," he sighed in relief,"and mentally?"

"I'm perfectly fine," he groaned,"What about you? You doing okay?"

"I'm in pain still, but that's fine," he grunted.

"Okay, well I'll head over to you soon, I just need to get ready," Keith told him.

"Okay, see you then."

"Bye."

"Bye," he hung up.

Keith threw his phone on his bed and headed into his bathroom. He turned on the shower and stripped of his boxers and shirt before stepping into the warm shower. He always liked to turn the shower on hot enough to wear it would gently burn his skin, so when the water was only medium-warm, he turned the heat up.

'That's weird....there's obviously steam but it doesn't feel hot? My skin isn't turning red either.....whatever, I'll have to talk to someone about getting really hot water to my apartment....'

Keith washed his hair and body before jumping out and throwing on a loose, red shirt that said, in black letters, 'Beware of Humans' and had an alien head on it. He quickly put on ripped black jeans, a black beanie, and big, red Doc Martins.

He was about to rush out the door with his keys, wallet, and phone when he noticed something. Lance's jacket.

'Maybe I could text him and ask him where he is, drop it off so I don't have to worry about it anymore....yeah....I'll do that....'

Keith grabbed it before bolting out the door and texting Lance.

 **You** : Hey, it's Keith, can I drop off your jacket now?  
 **Lance** : Yeah sure, thanks for not throwing it out btw  
 **You** : What's your address?   
 **Lance** : 1742 Hampshire Rd  
 **You** : Okay, be there in 5 minutes.

As soon as his foot hit pavement, he swerved right, heading to his red Harley Davidson, a V-Rod. Keith got on and pushed the key into the ignition before cramming one of the two helmets that he had on my bike on his head.

Keith pulled out and sped away, heading to the address Lance sent him. After a while of driving he pulled up to the address, the weird part was that he didn't pull up to a house, he pulled up to The Garrison, the college he and Shiro used to attend. Shiro had been able to graduate but Keith got expelled.

Keith scowled slightly. In all honesty he hated the school, the teachers were boring and the students were rude, he only attended because it would have looked good on his permanent record.

He drove in and headed to the complexes on campus. Once he found complex C, he stopped, got off his bike, took out the key, and headed inside with Lance's jacket. Keith went to one of the elevators and took it up to the third floor where Lance's apartment would be. He walked down the corridor and soon found room 245, so he carefully knocked, only to be met by someone screeching, loud footsteps and then the door opened to show Lance holding Pidge in his arms as they squirmed and screamed.

"Uh...bad time," Keith asked.

"HUNK YOU ASSHAT I'M GONNA KILL YOU," Pidge screamed.

"Uh no, Hunk accidentally broke one of Pidge's gadgets and now they want blood," he replied as Pidge continued to squirm restlessly.

"HE KILLED MY CHILD," they sobbed.

"Your robot got you cereal and coffee," Lance rolled his eyes.

"And now I have to get my own coffee, I don't know if I even remember how I like it," they sighed.

"Black coffee with a bit of creamer," Lance set them down,"Don't kill Hunk."

"Fine," they grumbled and walked away.

Lance smirked and whispered,"They hate going out to get coffee and they're too hyper already so I convinced them creamer and espresso were the same."

Keith couldn't help but smile at that and he smiled back before glancing at the floor.

"Woah," he blurted and appeared to regret it instantly.

"What? Is there grease on me again," he asked and checked his jeans and shoes.

"No, you just.....look really great in that," he told the other and he felt his face heat up.

"Oh....uh.....thanks," Keith said and thrust the jacket towards him,"You uh...look nice as well."

Keith felt like he was on fire, he was partially just saying it to be nice but it was still awkward. But then like magic, Lance's jacket caught fire, the oddest part though, was that it wasn't hot to Keith, though still dropped it on instinct.

Lance pulled both Keith and his jacket inside before saying,"You're obviously just like me, Hunk, and Pidge so we'll talk in a minute."

Then, in a quick motion, he gestured to the sink and water poured out before traveling closer to him and he dropped the orb of water onto his flaming jacket.

"So fire," he asked and looked up at Keith only to see his extremely large eyes,"Well fuck did you not know?"

"It just....just...YOUR JACKET CAUGHT ON FIRE AND YOU JUST MANIPULATED WATER WHAT THE FUCK," Keith freaked out and Hunk and Pidge walked in, their eyes widening when they saw him.

"Whoa whoa, calm down fire hands, just breath, I don't want you passing out 'cause god forbid I can't lift you you're just gonna be laying there for a while," he put his hands on his shoulders.

'Fire hands?....'

Keith looked down nervously. Seeing that his hands were quite literally engulfed in flames. He panicked more.

"Holy crap holy crap holy crap holy crap," Keith screeched.

"Dios mío," he sighed,"Calm down before you burn this place down. You're scared and that's why it's spreading, just breath."

"HOW THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO CALM DOWN?! MY HANDS ARE ON FUCKING FIRE AND IT DOESN'T HURT," he yelled.

"Shhhh shhh," Hunk rushed over,"People might hear you."

"Relax and it'll stop," Pidge told me.

"Breath with me, Keith, " Lance instructed

With much annoyance, he followed Lance's instructions and willed himself to take deep breaths. After a few minutes, he had calmed down, glad to see his hands were back to normal.

"Okay, what the hell is going on," Keith asked.

"We're not sure, but recently we've all got....a power," Lance said,"I obviously am able to control water, Hunk can control the ground, like make it come up underneath him, and Pidge can make plants grow."

"I don't really mind it, to be honest, it's just weird," Pidge commented.

'"Tell me if anything weird happens to you"......Shiro......'

"We need to go see Shiro," Keith suddenly blurted out.

"Why? Is he the same," Hunk asked.

"I don't know, but we need to go see him," Keith responded,"He'll know what to do. We were talking about it at one point."

They glanced about each other before following Keith as he left the apartment. They all got into the elevator when Hunk said something.

"One of you is gonna have to ride with Keith, the back seat of my car is still covered in dirt and mud from bringing those plants to Shay yesterday," Hunk informed everyone.

"Great," Keith sighed.

"I'll ride with you, save you from Lance," Pidge offered.

"Hey," Lance pouted.

Keith just nodded before the elevator opened,"I must warn you though, I don't have a car, only a motorcycle."

"You have a motorcycle? Ah, that's so cool," Lance cooed admirably.

"Oooooh," Pidge dragged out,"You know, I love to go fast, and I love being up high, but I absolutely despise mixing those two things."

"Don't worry, you'll be able to touch the ground," Keith reassured them.

"Keith. I'm not even five feet tall, I won't touch the fucking ground."

"Don't worry, Pidgeon, I'll gratefully take your place," Lance smirked.

Keith rolled his eyes and they split ways, Pidge and Hunk going one way while Lance and Keith went the other way. Once the two boys got to the bike, Lance ogled it for a second before noticing the helmet that Keith had handed him.

"Thanks," he said.

They got on the bike, Lance sitting just behind Keith with his hands tightly wrapped around his waist. Keith sighed softly and pulled out of the parking space, their helmets on tight as they zoomed out of there.

"So you go to Garrison," Keith asked.

"Yeah. Do you?"

"Used to."

"What happened?"

"Got kicked out."

"How?!"

"Some idiot pissed me off so I kicked him in the face, then a teacher got involved and I punched him as well. His name was.....Iverson I think."

Lance burst out into joyous laughter, bumping the helmet against Keith's shoulder,"You socked Iverson?! Oh god! That's amazing!"

Keith couldn't help but smirk as Lance shook with laughter behind him, it is contagious, right?

They soon pulled into the hospital parking lot, Pidge and Hunk arriving soon after. They headed inside and walked to the front desk.

"Hello, we're here to see Takashi Shirogane," Keith stated.

"Okay, how do you know him," that lady asked.

"I'm his adoptive brother, Keith Kogane, and these are his friends," Keith replied.

"And your names?"

"Lance Rodriguez," he winked.

"Hunk Garrett."

"Katie Holt."

"Okay, his room number is 164! He's in the hall to the left," she smiled and Keith nodded.

They headed down the hall to Shiro's room and once they got there they all entered. Only when they got in there, Shiro was surrounded by floating objects, all of which he was reaching for.

"I have no idea what happening, but I need some help," he cried in a panic.

"Ya think," Keith screeched and began jumping up to grab things, Hunk was helping on the other side and as soon as all of the objects were grounded Keith spurted out,"Okay, you too? For how long?! Did anyone see you?!"

"Keith calm down before you light up," Pidge exclaimed.

"Wait, 'light up'? Keith Kogane are you smoking again," Shiro glared.

"No! We all came here to talk about....well that," he replied.

"What do you mean 'that'," he asked, a serious look on his face.

Keith looked at Hunk, asking for approval to tell Shiro about his power; he nodded. Next, he looked at Pidge with the same expression, they nodded as well. He looked at Lance and he hesitated for a second, seemingly nervous before nodding.

"We're all turning out the same," Keith told him,"We're all developing these...powers."

"I was thinking about it on the way here and we all have one thing in common," Pidge stated before concluding,"We all got shot."

"Once I get out, we're going to a shop called 'Balmera'," Shiro instructed seriously,"I should get out tomorrow."

"'Balmera'? As in 'Balmera Boutique'? As in the place where my girlfriend works and lives," Hunk asked, looking queasy by the end.


	4. Balmera Boutique

**Keith**

"You're getting out soon," the nurse announced excitedly," Just a few more hours! Make sure to take it easy, get plenty of rest and Mr. Kogane, make sure he takes his meds every day!"

"Will do ma'am," Keith responded.

"The doctor will come in in a few minutes, give you what you need, and then you'll be allowed to leave," she told Shiro.

"Okay, thank you for all of your help this past while," he smiled up at her.

"No problem! It was my pleasure," she replied before exiting the room.

"The others are outside," Keith stated,"I'm expecting that we're going straight to 'Balmeran Boutique' once you get out?"  
  
"Yeah," he nodded,"but back to Thursday, are you okay?"  
  
"Shiro! I don't wanna talk about that anymore," the other whined.   
  
"Well, little brother, we don't all get what we want in life," he sighed,"I can tell that you're still distraught about it."  
  
Keith grumbled softly,"Yeah, okay, I'm pissed that I put so much into a guy who was just after my body.......again."

"Oh Keith, you'll find someone soon enough," he reassured his brother.   
  
"Yeah, just another guy who compliments my ass and I fall head over heels for just so he can pound me, make me feel good, and then have me figure out I was just another booty call number," he sighed, burying his face into the sheets near Shiro's feet,"God, I was an idiot! Why did I think he loved me? He never said it! He said he loved my face, and my stomach, and my calves, and my thighs, and my ass, but never just.....me.....It's almost insulting...."  
  
Shiro sighed and grabbed the Korean's hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. The door creaked open.   
  
"Bad time," Dr. Bowick asked and Keith groaned into the blanket as Shiro shook his head.   
  
Dr. Bowick was extremely pale and had sharp, golden brown eyes. His hair was always shaven on the sides and slicked back on the top. His lab coat loosely hid a nice purple button up and grey tie, along with grey slacks.   
  
"A little, but it'd be better to work it out outside of the hospital," he replied.   
  
"Okay, well I'm just gonna take your blood pressure, temperature, make sure you can stand up, you know," he replied, he was a good friend of ours -more over Shiro- so he was laxer with us.   
  
He began taking Shiro's blood pressure as Shiro said,"So, Dr. Bowick-"  
  
"Please, call me Ulaz," he smiled.   
  
"Ulaz, you didn't find anything.....weird," Shiro asked, earning a warning glare from his brother,"I mean, we did get shot with something odd, right?"  
  
"No, you show to be healthy, extremely so in fact," he dragged out suspiciously,"Is there something you're not telling me?"  
  
"No, not at all, just a little paranoid from being shot......again," he rolled his eyes playfully.   
  
"Well Champ-, erm, let's get those test done and then send you on your way," Ulaz smiled before taking a few tests, Shiro was fully standing by the end and it was good to see him up,"Okay, now touch your toes."  
  
"I've never been able to do that," Shiro laughs as he attempts but could barely reach his shins, making Keith laugh,"Oh as if you can do better!"  
  
"At least I can bend down," he shot back.   
  
"That's because you're a twink," he rolled his eyes.   
  
"Wow," Keith gaped as Ulaz tried to hold back a laugh.   
  
"Okay, well, it looks like you're good to go," Ulaz chuckled.  
  
"Thank you for helping us out," Shiro said.   
  
"No problem, but do me a favor and try not to get put in here for being shot another time, alright?"  
  
"Will do, have a nice day."  
  
"You too, Shiro, here's you painkillers. Stay safe you two."  
  
"You too, Doctor!"  
  
As soon as they got out of the room, they quickly headed to the to the exit as Keith filled him in on the already formed seating arrangements. Lance would, unfortunately, be riding with Keith while Pidge and Shiro sat with Hunk.   
  
"Ready to go," Lance asked as he pushed himself away from Hunk's car, his NASA shirt clinging loosely to his body along with his light blue jeans and red and white high tops.   
  
"Yeah," Keith nodded,"You need help getting into the car, Shiro?"  
  
"No, I'm fine. Lance, make sure Keith knows how to get to Balmera Boutique, we'll meet you there," Shiro instructed and Lance nodded,"also please drive safely for once, Keith!"  
  
"Might do," he chuckled and jumped onto his motorcycle, Lance quickly hopped on as  
well.   
  
Keith gave him a helmet and shoved his head into it, revving up the engine before whipping out of the parking lot. Lance clung to him tightly, watching where they were going with what was probably a soft smile.   
  
"Turn left here," he told the other, his sudden voice nearly making him jump.   
  
Keith nodded and once the light turned green, they took off down the street, making Lance laugh excitedly. He smirked softly as the Cuban continued the directions. Soon they got to their destination and Lance looked more lively than ever.   
  
"God I love motorcycles," he grinned.   
  
"Yeah, they're pretty nice," Keith nodded in agreement.   
  
"Where'd you get it?"  
  
"Uh, I inherited it. Something about my grandfather had died I think."  
  
"Oh, sorry for bringing it up, losing family must be tough."  
  
"It's fine, never met him anyway."  
  
"Oh..."  
  
Soon the others pulled in. The mixture of Hunk looking upset and Pidge looking exhausted made Keith a little nervous, to be honest, he wasn't sure what to expect anymore.   
  
"Hey buddy, don't worry, I'm sure you two will work it out," Lance frowned, patting his big friend's back.   
  
Hunk simply nodded, seemingly distressed as they all filed into the building before him. It was small and made of bricks and glass. Plants lined the windows, inside and out, while more plants, herbs, stones, books, and different small statues were neatly scattered on the inside.   
  
A young woman seemed to be talking to someone -who happened to be obscured by shelves of books- but jumped when a bell rang and she seemingly shoved them into what was probably another room, there was the sound of a door shutting.   
  
"O-oh! Hello, Hunk, Lance, Pidge, and...friends! How might you be doing," she asked, smoothing out her short, brown hair and white dress with yellow flowers.   
  
She had dark brown skin, broad shoulders, and big arms, obviously she used them often. Her light brown eyes nearly seemed golden in the light and her light, natural makeup made her look very nice.   
  
"Shay, please tell me the truth," Hunk broke out, seeming like he was boiling over with rage yet about to burst into tears,"What's happening to us? Who are you really?"  
  
"What are you talking about," she asked nervously,"I-I don't believe I have been telling anything but the truth!"  
  
"Then who is in the back, first of all?! What is happening, Shay? Something is happening and we were told to come here," he said taking her hands.  
  
She made a small noise of discomfort,"I do not know if I can say who is back there..."  
  
"Ma'am, if I may explain, all of us were shot a few weeks back, I was told that we should come here when......things began to happen to us," Shiro explained,"Do you know what they are talking about?"  
  
Her eyes widened,"It must be a- You are not- Oh no no no!"  
  
She quickly stormed into the back room and you could hear yelling soon after as an odd-looking male stepped out of there. He had bright orange hair and an equally exciting blue outfit.   
  
"N-Now Shay, you are terrifying so please don't hit me! I meant tO TELL YOU I SWEAR," the male screeched, Keith realized he had a mustache to match his hair.   
  
"I REQUESTED THAT YOU TOLD ME WHO WAS HURT AND YOU DID NOT TELL THE TRUTH, CORAN," she hissed back.   
  
"Hey wait! You're the guy that talked to me after I got shot," Shiro proclaimed and everyone turned to him.   
  
"I will let you go this time, but do not try it again," she hissed before going over to Hunk and hugging him tightly, both talking quietly to one another.   
  
"Ah yes! Takashi Shirogane! It's good to see you up and about," the man hummed, swaying stiffly as he turned towards us, twirling his mustache in between his fingers.   
  
"How the hell do you know my brother's name," Keith glared, he had a bad habit of being possessive of whoever he was closest to.   
  
"We've been watching you, number 4," he responded and before Keith could say anything, Pidge cut in.   
  
"Listen, man, I just wanna know what the fuck is going on! We were normal one moment but now we have these powers? So do we get an explanation or not," they glared angrily.  
  
"Well, in short, there's a possibility that you could die," he smiled and we froze.   
  
"Can we ask for the longer version," Lance squeaked out.   
  
"Of course! You see, an alien race called Galra has sent some of their people down to this planet to start taking over! They've made a serum called 'quintessence' and it is supposed to kill you, looks like they messed up on your dosage though," he said,"Quintessence is a very strange thing, the dosage needs to be precise or it can do anything from giving you powers apparently, to turning you into what I am, an Altean!"  
  
"How long have they been here? How do you know it can turn people into Altean's? What else can this quin-whatever do," Keith spewed quickly.   
  
"The Galra have been here for a long time, I'm not sure exactly how long but before you were born, nor am I sure about everything quintessence can do. As for turning humans into Alteans-," he started but was cut off when a lady came in.   
  
"There's me," she said, a strong and powerful look in her eyes.   
  
She was African-American and wore a white hijab. Her body was adorned with a light pink dress and white leggings, white tennis shoes on her feet. Her gentle pink lipgloss made her lips look fuller and her natural eyeshadow made her blue eyes pop.   
  
"Woah," Shiro muttered softly beside me.   
  
"I am Allura, er Princess Allura I guess," she corrected herself.   
  
"Hey there, the name's Lance," he flirted, earning a jab in the side from Pidge.   
  
"Sorry about him, I'm Pidge! The nervous guy's Hunk," they held out their hand to the woman and they shook.   
  
"I'm um Takashi, but you can call me Shiro," he scratched the back with an awkward smile and an embarrassed blush.   
  
"It's nice to meet you all and it's nice to know that I'm no longer the only one in this position," she sighed in relief.   
  
"Now that I have a group of people, I'll show what this ship really is," Coran announced.   
  
"I requested that you do not mess with my home when we came here, Coran," Shay glared,"You are not doing a good job of that!"  
  
"Yes and I also said no Galra would be here," he replied and pulled something out of his pocket.  
  
"'When [you] came here'," Hunk questioned,"I thought this was a family heirloom?"  
  
"We'll discuss that later," she replied, they were still wrapped around each other.  
  
"Anyway," Coran continued,"Princess."  
  
"Of course," she nodded and removed her hijab to reveal elongated ears similar to Coran's and flowing white hair.   
  
She went over to the computer as Coran plugged a hand scanner into it. Allura placed her hand on it, and after a second it beeped several times before the recite machine shot out a piece of paper. Coran ripped it off with a smile, reading it carefully.   
  
"We now know where you five will train," he informed us.   
  
"What do you mean 'train'," Shiro asked, his arms crossed in confusion.   
  
"You honestly think that we Alteans are going to allow random humans with possibly dangerous powers just walk around? No! You work for us now whether or not you like it," Allura hissed, seemingly angry.   
  
"I'll still be able to see my family, right? I also have schooling and I would get whooped if I missed any of that without a legitimate reason," Lance rocked off the heels of his shoes.   
  
"Yes, but you will have to miss a few days every now and then! If you don't, you might never see your family alive again," she replied, a stern glare on her face as Lance nodded.   
  
"Well, you work for us now," the orange-haired man blurted.   
  
"We should have a team name," Lance replied,"I mean if we're gonna use our powers to fight we're probably gonna be filmed at one point and I don't think 'Those kids with the powers' sounds nice, so I say we have a team name!"  
  
"That actually sounds awesome! Good job, Lance, you came up with a good idea," Pidge grinned.   
  
"Hey!"  
  
"I think the princess should decide, she is pretty much," Shiro pointed and Keith gave him a knowing smirk, causing him to glare back down.   
  
"Hmm," she hummed,"My father....before he died he always spoke of the fairytale he made up to calm me down as a child. Voltron was its name, so I say 'Team Voltron'!"  
  
A silence fell upon the room as we thought of it.   
  
"I like it," Hunk piped up.   
  
"I think it sounds cool," Pidge shrugged.   
  
"Sounds spacey," Lance proclaimed.   
  
"Yeah, or even like something you would add 'Legendary Defenders' after," Keith chuckled.   
  
"'Team Voltron: Legendary Defenders'? I like it," Shiro nodded.   
  
"'Team VLD' for short," Shay suggested with a soft smile.   
  
"Wonderful! Now that that's sorted out, it's just the beginning, do not expect it to end anytime soon," Coran informed.   
  
To be honest, he was more than right, there was much much more to come.


	5. Work Sucks Until Friends

**Keith**

"Should I go back to school?"  
     
"What?"  
     
"Should I go back t-"  
      
"I heard you the first time but Keith, you punched Iverson because he got involved after some guy offhandedly made a snappy remark about me," Shiro retorted.   
     
"Well sorry for being a good brother! He said that you shouldn't have graduated and that we would be living on the streets by now," Keith replied.   
     
"Keith, he hated me so much because in class I would take off my arm and raise it in the air like an idiot," he sighed,"Plenty of times I annoyed the shit outta that guy!"  
     
"Not a good enough excuse," the other huffed,"but seriously, should I go back?"  
     
Keith was hanging upside down off the end of the couch, lazily trying to figure out how to finish the rubics cube in his hands. Shiro was at the table figuring out the taxes, sighing in frustration every once and a while.   
     
"Keith, please I need your help, typing with one arm is impossible," he whined,"At least I could peck with my other one!"  
     
"Here I come," Keith sighed.   
     
Shiro told him what to type and where Keith was spacing out half of the time so he too needed so help.   
     
"But seriously, should I save up? I mean, I got the inheritance from my parents, and I've got my getaway money. I think I could convince them to let me back into the Garrison," he mumbled as he mindlessly typed words and numbers.   
     
"First of all, what brought all of this up? Secondly, 'getaway money'?"  
     
"I just," Keith sighed heavily,"I feel stupid! I'm a 22-year-old college drop out who drinks beer way too often and honestly, has too much time on my hands! This whole....fire thing is really freaking me out as well, I need to take my mind off of it. And look at Pidge, Hunk, and Lance! They're all gonna graduate and you already did.....but I don't know...."  
    
"Keith you are anything but stupid! You got through school with all A's, you majored in Astrophysics and minored in Biology, not many people can do that," Shiro laughed.   
     
"It's just too easy! Yes, it was complex but it was easy to break down into pieces that were too easy to learn," he grumbled.   
     
"If your serious about this, try something more challenging! Like some kind of art!"  
      
"Art? Pfft, yeah, I can see myself now, hunched in front of a computer for the rest of my life."  
      
"Keith I'm serious. You used to do ballet and gymnastics, you could do something with that! Don't think I haven't seen how you still sway along to music, you miss it."  
     
"Maybe a little, but I don't want to dance, I hate dancing with others!"  
     
"Painting? You like traditional sketching so maybe you could do something like that," he suggested.   
     
"Mm," Keith hummed,"I might go back into some type of science though, a different, harder type of science."  
     
"You should talk to Lance and them about it," Shiro offered and he nodded.  
     
"When are we meeting with them talk about training," he asked.   
     
"1:30 in the morning because Alteans hate us."  
     
"'Kay, I'm gonna go to work."  
     
"Right-o Lil' bro, thanks for helping."  
     
"No problem."  
     
With that, he walked off to his room to get into his uniform. It was a dark blue jumpsuit with jeans and a white shirt underneath. He wore reinforced boots so if something too heavy landed on his feet they would cut off his toes rather than he gets his entire foot and leg seriously broken. He tied his hair up, grabbed his phone and wallet, and took to the door.   
     
Once he was outside and on the ground he headed to his motorcycle, hopping on and starting her up made him smile, he loved the way she hummed. Keith pulled out of the parking area and headed to his job, an auto-mechanic.  
     
Once he got there, he parked in the back before heading inside, waving to the two coworkers that there.   
     
"Hey Rolo, hey Nyma," he said as he clocked himself in.   
     
"Hey man, how's the wife," Rolo smirked, rolling a toothpick between his teeth.   
     
His wiry blonde hair and smug, yet slack smirk screamed druggy, he was pretty open with his smoking habits though, so you didn't really even have to glance at him to tell. He had a dirty green hat on backward always and said the toothpick was just for show to our boss, it was really so he wouldn't smoke in the shop, too many flammable materials.  
     
"Shiro is great," Keith responded.   
     
"Good to know, wouldn't want my future husband's brother unhappy," Nyma cooed.   
     
"Oh fuck off Nyma, you know I don't like you," he hissed non threateningly.   
     
"Ooh, but a little birdie told me you're single now so I have a chance," she sung.   
     
Nyma was gorgeous, no doubt about it. Pale skin and hair made her purple eyes and thick eyelashes pop. She was flirtatious and manipulative, she knew that and used them to her advantage, not caring who she hurt. Rolo never seemed to mind though, they were in a relationship.   
     
"Shut up," he growled as we waited for people to come in.   
     
It, of course, was a slow day. They were a small shop in a sketchy part of town so people tended not to trust it, unless they were willing to risk credit card fraud, bad parts, and were poor. Keith wasn't one of the people who stole from the shop, he wanted to have a steady and paying job, not to be open for being fired.   
     
He helped several customers over an hour, whether they were in the shop or over the phone but right when it hit twelve, he was ready for his lunch break.   
     
"I'm gonna go get lunch," he said, putting a dirty rag down, he had been cleaning different parts.   
     
"Get me a sandwich," Rolo called as Keith headed out the front.   
     
"No," he replied bluntly.   
     
There was a sandwich shop down a couple blocks so he headed there. It was quiet most of the way there, other than a few people giving me odd looks and Keith responded with glares.   
     
Once he got there, he ordered a coke and a ham and cheese sandwich before sitting down with a sigh. After a while though, someone sat down across from me, making me smirk.   
     
"Hey Lance," Keith said.   
     
"Hey, I didn't know you ate here," he replied with a smile.   
     
"Yeah," he nodded,"It's close to where I work so I walk here a lot."  
     
"Oh? Where do you work?"  
     
"Kaltenecker's Auto-Mechanic," he replied and he nodded.   
     
"Cool, I go there sometimes," he replied.   
     
It was quiet for a while until Keith spoke up again,"I've been thinking about going back to college."  
     
"Really?"  
     
"Yeah, but it's just to....to easy! My courses were easy for me so they were boring so I barely wanted to stay in the first place! Do you have any suggestions?"  
     
"Well, what was your major and minor before?"  
     
"Major was Astrophysics and minor was biology," Keith responded and covered his mouth.   
     
"WHAT?! ASTROPHYSICS AND BIOLOGY WERE 'EASY'," he screeched, grabbing the attention of a few people.   
     
"Shush! But yes, they were a bit too easy for me! Just- ugh what do I look like I'd be in college for?"  
     
"Auto-mechanics."  
     
"Already know that, next?"  
     
"Maybe a painter? You look like you'd either be painting or writing a story."  
     
"Everyone is saying painting......maybe.....if I actually get the money..."  
      
"You don't even have the money yet?! Why are you in such a rush to get back in anyway?"  
     
Keith sighed softly and swallowed the food in his mouth,"It's kinda dumb, but I feel stupid. My brother graduated, Pidge will graduate, Hunk will graduate, you'll graduate, and I'll just be a college dropout..."  
     
"Keith you won't just be a college dropout, you'll be Keith Kogane, the man who helps save the world," Lance framed the imaginary words," Or you could be the real life 'Human Torch'! Ah, that'd be so cool!"  
     
Keith frowned slightly,"I don't know, we just met the Alteans....and I mean, what if we don't need to? What if they're lying? What if they're telling the truth but we fail? What......what if we're the bad guys?"  
     
"You sound like Hunk," Lance chuckled,"I doubt they're the bad guys, just calm down for a few minutes, okay?"  
     
"Okay," the other nodded and checked his phone,"I need to head to work."  
     
"Mind if I join you?"  
     
"Nah, but don't you have work or school?"  
     
"It's a day where the stars have aligned my friend, no work today and my professors all said they had better things to do today," the boy said, throwing a hand on his chest,"I came out here to pick someone up but sadly no beautiful people were here! Just you."  
     
"Wow, you're just full of kindness, aren't you," Keith scoffed jokingly.   
     
"Definitely!"  
     
He shook his head softly, laughing at Lance's behavior. They talked and laughed for the rest of walk there, occasionally teasing one another or playfully pushing each other.   
     
Once they arrived Lance sighed softly, obviously upset about having to leave, but he still forced a smile.   
    
"So uh, I'll see you later," he asked.   
     
"Yeah," the Korean nodded, slightly upset,"I'll see you later."  
     
They stayed there for a second, simply staring at each other before Lance smiled and teased,"You should tie your hair up more, it makes you look nice."  
     
In some attempt to do.....anything really to calm his approaching blush, Keith replied with,"Well, you should wear those pants more, they really shape your legs!"  
      
In a second, he realized what he said and squeaked out a goodbye and rushed inside, his face was definitely red. Once Keith got to his seat he flopped forward onto the desk with a loud groan.   
     
"You chill," Rolo asked.   
     
"Have you ever made a mistake and you've wanted to die after," he grumbled and Nyma laughed.   
      
"So who was he? The next person you'll be a slut for," she smirked.   
     
"Fuck off," he growled,"He's just a friend..."  
     
"An attractive friend," Rolo asked.   
     
"An attractive friend," Keith sighed heavily," but he's just aesthetically pleasing! His attitude makes me want to slap him sometimes."  
     
"I know a few people like that," the female replied, kissing her boyfriend's cheek.   
     
Rolo pouted lightly, waiting until he got an eye roll and a kiss on the lips to smile and say,"You love me!"  
     
"Sadly," she retorted.  
     
By the end of his shift, it was already nearly midnight. Yes, they were open until 10 but Rolo pulled out a few beers so the three of them kicked back and watched a movie. He wasn't drunk when he left, more of a giggly that was barely there, but still, he wasn't going to risk driving so he walked back home.  
     
Once he got home, he decided it was a mistake because Shiro did not look pleased.   
     
"Hey," Keith asked and Shiro shook his head.   
     
"What the hell? Where were you," he asked.   
     
"At work...I watched a movie with Rolo and Nyma," the younger of the two replied, nervously picking at the lower part of his jumpsuit.   
     
"Is that all," he raised a brow.   
     
"I had a beer or two," he mumbled, Shiro had a way to make him feel like a kid who got in trouble for the first time.   
     
"You know you shouldn't drink so late at night, especially when you're going somewhere soon!"  
     
"Calm down, it was just two beers," Keith exclaimed, slightly agitated.   
     
"I just....it's late at night and you were all alone and you....get around and that news passes around quickly," he sighed before continuing,"especially with the wrong type of people."  
     
Keith knew what his brother was talking about. He had lost his arm when he was similar to Keith, taking everything too serious but not serious enough led him to make bad decisions and then getting jumped. At first, they thought that they could just slap some band-aids on his wounds, that was until he woke up screaming in pain and clutching his hurt arm -Keith could have sworn he was trying to rip it off himself. One hospital trip later and a lot of explaining to do, they found he had Necrotizing fasciitis, his arm needed to get amputated and fast. The procedure was successful, though they weren't, so here they are, 6 years later still paying off the bills and he just put him in his place.   
     
Shitty was the understatement of the century to describe how Keith felt. He quickly wrapped my arms around his big brother.   
     
"I'll call you and an Uber next time," Keith mumbled,"Sorry for putting that stress on you."  
     
And they were fine, because Keith apologized, and sometimes that's all you can give.


	6. Training

**Keith**

Keith woke up in a car, making him panic for a second before he realized that he was in Shiro's car. He looked at who was driving, he was in the passenger seat, it was Lance.

"Oh, you're up! We're heading to the training place," Shiro told me and Keith groaned before putting his legs on the floor and pulling down the mirror in the sun visor.

He looked like shit to put it nicely, so he quickly fixed his hair before turning back to Shiro, only to see Hunk and Pidge as well.

"Here, I brought you some water," Shiro handed his brother up a bottle.

He quickly chugged half of the bottle before asking,"Where are we going?"

"Training, remember," Pidge asked, causing me to groan.

"Oh fuck me," Keith sighed.

"Language," Shiro chided.

"Lemme guess, hangover," Lance smirked beside me.

"Fuck off..."

He laughed before saying,"Been there too many times! The trick is pickle juice, I swear!"

"You're disgusting," the other grumbled and took more sips,"What do you think they'll do to have us train?"

"Practice controlling our powers," Pidge offered,"Maybe work out as well which, ew no."

Soon they arrived somewhere Keith never wanted to be again. Yes, he loved living there when he did, it was quiet and peaceful, but at the same time, he didn't even have Shiro then. He was annoyed and honestly scared, why were we here? Did they know? Does this mean maybe they weren't chosen but set to be?

As all these thoughts raced through his head a hand landed on his shoulder, it was Pidge.

"You okay? You look paler than usual," they teased, causing him to glare.

"As if you're any better! But, I don't want to be here," Keith sighed,"I never did."

They gave him an odd look but Keith just brushed it off and approached his old shack.

It was dusty, run down, and in the middle of the desert. The others were already inside, Lance and Hunk were sifting through things and laughing at 'some poor motherfucker' while Shiro was about to try and intervene. Allura and Coran were also in there, looking around at the old conspiracy board.

"Hey, stop touching that," Keith growled angrily, swatting at Lance and Hunk's curious hands.

"Why? All of this stuff is aged back to when we were like at most 18," Hunk stated,"Plus whoever used to live here obviously hasn't for a long time."

Shiro looked at his brother sympathetically but Keith just scowled and ripped was in their hands out.

"That doesn't matter! Learn to respect property," he exclaimed, neatly stacking the papers and putting them back where they respectively were.

He quickly bore his narrowed, aubergine-colored eyes into them before turning to Allura as she began speaking.

"Okay paladins, for now, we are simply going to start with bonding exercises, Coran," she handed off.

"Trust fall," he shouted excitedly, a blue glowing goop filled bowl sat next to him.

'That better not get on my futon...'

"Hunk, you're my partner," Lance shouted.

"Not so fast, #3! I have you ranked by height...You'll all be falling and catching with everyone!"

"You're kidding," Hunk paused,"right? Pidge definitely cannot carry me!"

"And I can't do anything with only one arm," Shiro added.

"#5, don't try with Hunk! Shiro, I have something for you. Now it is Galra tech, but it's a cyborg prosthetic made back when Alteans and Galra lived together peacefully and you would highly improve it. I have a sterilized tent where I can put it in," Coran informed, a quiet thud of Pidge falling into Hunk's arms in the background.

"I'll do it," he agreed,"It's the best we can get right now and I can't do anything with only one arm."

Coran nodded and they headed outside, leaving the rest of us to do stupid trust falls.

"Trust fall," Pidge asked, holding their arms out and Keith couldn't help but smile.

He nodded and they fell into his arms before he fell back into theirs. The two laughed as they did this, it was ridiculous and they both knew it. He also did it with Lance and Hunk, all of them laughing as they did so.

As Lance was in his arms, he just fell back, everyone heard Shiro scream in pain, putting the arm on was going to be a painful process of course. Keith's arms tightened around Lance subconsciously and he stood up, holding the boy as well.

"Do not worry Keith, he's okay, but in pain. When putting the new arm on, people used to say that it felt like they were getting it ripped off all over again," Allura said, whispering the last part.

He quickly turned away, busying himself with straightening everything. Papers, his old conspiracy board, and even the small piles of trash still around.

"I'm guessing you're a stress cleaner," Hunk offered and Keith sighed before nodding,"I bake when I'm stressed, I understand."

They did other bonding exercises, partially to distract us (mostly Keith) from the screams. After a while though, Shiro and Coran came back in, Shiro was covered in sweat and looked exhausted so his brother forced him to lay down on the old futon.

"You need anything," Keith asked quietly and he shook his head.

"No, I'm fine..."

"So water?"

He chuckled softly,"Yeah...I feel like you right now."

Keith grumbled with a scowl before getting up to find a water in Shiro's car. Once he found a bottle, he brought it to Shiro and he quickly chugged it.

"Okay, now then let's actually practice powers," Allura smiled.

"Not inside," Keith quickly added, getting a few odd glances but he just rolled his eyes.

 

They all headed outside, leaving Shiro to sleep. Coran, like Keith learned he does a lot, pulled some dummies out of god knows where.

 

"Okay, first step paladins," Allura began,"Just show us what you can do, and try not to kill the dummies for your first time!"

"Yes, princess," Lance winked playfully,"I'll go first!"

 

With a smirk and a flick of his wrists, he shot his hands out like he had before and....nothing.

 

"I think I already broke it," Lance pouted.

"It could be because we're in the desert. I mean it is really dry out here, so maybe he can't gather enough molecules to create water, or maybe he can't even do that right now," Hunk piped up, mumbling the last part in concentration.

"It would appear so," Allura snickered,"So Hunk, why don't you give it a go?"

"Okay, but uh, w-what should I do," he stuttered,"I'm bad at controlling it anyway so...."

"Try just shifting the floor in front of you."

He nodded before going to where Lance had long since abandoned. He closed his eyes and focused on the ground in front of him began to rumble before it began to rocket upwards.

"Woah," Hunk stared,"Definitely never going to get used to that."

"Well don't worry number one you might get another power! It's happened in past experiments so it's possible," Coran grinned.

"Thanks, Coran, that's helpful," Lance sighed,"I'll never get a girlfriend now!"

"You would never have without this power anyway," Pidge snickered.

"Do you wanna go," Lance screeched, causing Keith to laugh,"YOU WANNA GO TOO, KOGANE?!"

"Yeah sure, I can throw down," he smirked back as they both glared at each other.

"Okay, okay, break it up," Allura commanded,"Pidge, please demonstrate what you can do."

"I don't know how much I'll be able to do, I mean Lance couldn't summon up anything and water is a large part of plant life obviously," they said,"I'll try though..."

She held her hand out silently, hoping for something to happen. A few small cacti and other desert plants popped up, but that was all, and they panted.

"Fuck....oddly exhausting," they laughed a little.

"Yes," Allura answered,"This does use energy like anything else, but as you use it more and more it will take less and less power to use, like a muscle. Now on to Keith."

Keith's thoughts were clouded with 'What if I️ hurt them? What if I️ burn down the shack? What if I️ kill them? Will I️ have to kill in the future? Will I️ be able to do that? Will I️ have to a body again?'

"Keith," Lance asked, putting a hand on my shoulder," You alive in there?"

"Yeah....sorry....guess I️ zoned," he murmured before walking up to the area and held out his hand.

He focused. A spark. Another. Another. Another. A flame, small but there. Should he test it? Yes. It became larger, gently filling the cup of the palm of his hand.

"Good job, Keith. You all must realize, these are dangerous, yours is the most dangerous but Hunk, yours will be the easiest to use as we are almost always on the solid ground," Allura smiled.

"#4! Shiro is requesting your presence. Princess, you need to go over everything with them. I'll watch over the rest as you three talk," Coran smiled.

 

Keith nodded and headed inside, Allura tagging right behind his. The walk was short and quiet, both ending when they got inside, Shiro still looked horrible but was gently moving his new arm, it almost looked real, other than the obvious metal it was made out of.

 

Keith quickly walked forward, hugging him tightly. It was rare for him to hug, but hearing Shiro scream in such pain was hard, he never wanted to hear it again. Shiro paused for a second before returning it.

"Onto business," Allura stated,"Your arm is waterproof and can't get sand in it but it will have to be oiled every 6 months. It is also a weapon, it'll be a while before you'll learn to control that but for now, I'll keep you guessing."

Shiro chuckled, Keith could tell he had a small crush, she was beautiful and no one could say she wasn't. Keith nodded and she continued to go over safety and rules but soon the others came in.

"Coran thinks there's a sandstorm coming, so we need to go soon," Pidge said as Lance seemed to stare at something.

"We could always stay in here if needed, I'm sure this could stay up," Shiro replied, glancing at Pidge and Keith.

As they continued to talk, Keith watched as Lance walked towards a pile of newspapers before picking up a small card. Keith's eyes widened in realization of what it was and he was about to tell him to put it down, but Lance was already speaking.

"Hey look, the guy left a picture of him and his mom," Lance said with a smirk.

"Really," Hunk asked and joined Lance at looking at the photo,"It looks like he ripped the dad out of the photo..."

"Daddy issues," Lance joked and Keith strode over, attempting to snatch the picture from his hands,"Hey, wait your turn! We all wanna takes turn to look at it."

"Lance just-just hand it over," Keith replied, reaching over,"It's not yours!"

"It's not yours either! You're acting like my little sisters, dude," Lance laughed, lifting the photo over his head.

Keith reached up and grabbed it, pulling Lance's hand down with it but he yanked it back up. A sound echoed between them, a ripping sound. Both of their eyes widened.

"Pfft-haha," Lance began to laugh,"You ripped his-"

"My," I cut him off.

"What?"

"You ripped my picture! You came into my home, you all laughed at how I lived for 12 years, and then you," Keith stabbed at Lance's chest with his finger," ripped the most important thing to me."

The room was quiet for a minute, no one knowing what to say as Keith held half of the picture tight to my chest.

"Keith, I-," Lance touched the other's shoulder.

"Fuck off," he murmured, dropping the photo,"Just....fuck off..."

Keith walked out, grabbing onto Shiro's keys before getting into his car and starting it up. Soon he was on the road heading home as he cried because fuck, he was broken.

That picture meant the world to Keith and now it's gone, no way of getting it back. he choked back sobs as he sped off to my apartment, though he didn't get out right when he got back to the apartment. Instead, he stayed in the car, tears stinging his eyes as he glared at the steering wheel he was white knuckling.

"GOD DAMN IT," he screamed and slammed his fists in the wheel, making a few awkward honks come out,"God damn it..."

There was suddenly a knock on the window and he snapped towards it before realizing it was a cop. He seemed in his 30-40's but was bald. He had a small smile on his face, looking more sympathetic than anything.

Keith rolled down the window and said,"Officer...Hoggs, did I, uh, cause a disturbance?"

"To the people around you? Probably. To me? Not at all," he replied,"But you do look like you're having a rough night, you wanna talk about it?"

He nodded vigorously, already feeling tears come back up. They sat on the curb, not speaking for a second.

"You wanna say what's up, or just wanna sit?"

"My....friend ripped something extremely important to me..."

"What was it?"

"The last picture of my mom and me before she passed..."

He nodded,"Was it new?"

"No, it was for '99."

"No helping that really...do you still have it?"

"No," he grumbled and soon saw Lance's car pulling up the long street,"I, uh, need to sleep my emotions off..."

"Don't do anything irrational," he replied as they stood,"Goodnight, sir."

"You too, Officer Hoggs."

Keith sprinted inside of the complex and up the stair to his and Shiro's apartment, hoping to be able to get rid of Lance. His attempts, however, were fruitless. As soon as he closed and locked the door there was a knock, Keith sighed heavily.

"Keith? I know you're in there, please open up," Lance said quietly.

"Fuck off," he grumbled,"I don't wanna talk to you..."

"I know, I know," he sighed,"I don't wanna talk to me either....but I sent a picture to my sister, Charo, she's a professional realist painter, she agreed to paint it..."

Keith stopped breathing for a second,"What?"

"My sister, she's going to paint it for you so you can hang it up," he repeated,"Unless you don't want her to, I can tell her-"

"No! No, don't," he replied through the door,"Do you still have the picture?"

"Yeah, do you want it?"

 

Keith quickly opened the door, Lance was holding out the picture which was gently taped together. He grabbed it, inspecting the tape.

"Listen, I know it's not the best fix up job, but it's okay...I hope you're okay with it until you get the one Sophía paints for you."

Keith looked up at him,"Thank you, thank you."

Lance, obviously, blushed which, in turn, made Keith blush. They both stared at each other for a few minutes, both faces red.

"I-I should get going now," Lance said, looking away,"I have to ask Charo how everything is going."

He began to walk away, Keith quickly yanked his arm back and down, smashing their lips together for just a second. It wasn't enough to feel anything really but Keith let go of him and pulled away.

"It really means a lot to me, Lance," he told Lance, looking at the ground as he rushed into his apartment.

Keith closed the door and evened his breathing. He could feel that his face was red and honestly, it was mostly because he couldn't stop thinking about what could've happened if he didn't pull away.

'No no no! You promised Shiro you would take a break from dating and....other activities....you will do this...

But what about...

YOUR HAND KOGANE, YOUR HAND!'


	7. Chapter 7

Keith

Keith needed to apologize, he knew that for certain. Not only had he stolen Shiro's car, but he also needed to apologize to Lance for... well... kissing him. God, that was a mistake. What if he didn't want it? What if he hated it? What if he hated him?

"Ughhhhhh," Keith groaned, pulling himself out of his thoughts before launching himself into sitting position and gently slapping his cheeks, "Ok Keith, time to get up!"

He pulled himself out of bed and into a new pair of clothes. He chose a plain red shirt, a cropped black jacket with a fluffy inside, and black skinny jeans. Not his first choice in outfits, but it was better than nothing. He went into his kitchen, got a bowl of cereal, and quickly ate it before searching the apartment for Shiro. When no sign of him popped up, Keith grabbed his keys, deciding to kill two birds with one stone he hopped on his bike and headed to Lance's. 

Traffic, of course, was bad, making Keith more and more irritated by the minute. There was a pretty bad accident and Keith hoped they were both alright. A usual fifteen-minute drive was increased to thirty and Keith was cussing under his breath as he turned into a parking spot, taking off his helmet and getting off his bike, he headed up the stairs.

Once outside of Lance's door, Keith ran his hands down his face before glaring at the door. Hesitantly, he brought a fist up, quickly knocking before rubbing his thumb against the side of his index finger. When the door opened, Keith jumped slightly, seeing Hunk standing there. 

He looked like he had been up for a bit, but clearly busy in the kitchen. He had a yellow shirt on and tan shorts, both of which had a bit of flour and what appeared to be chocolate on them. His hair was tied back with his signature orange headband, exposing his forehead a bit more. 

"Hey," the taller said awkwardly, "I'd like to apologize for yesterday, I didn't-"

"It's fine," Keith cut in, "It's in the past and I'd rather not go back. Anyway, is Shiro here?"

"No, he went with Allura, Coran, and Shay back to the boutique," he replied and Keith nodded. 

"Cool, thanks," he mumbled before starting to walk off, only to have a hand pull him back. 

"Nope. Lance told me what happened yesterday when he went to you. You two need to talk, you kinda really fucked with him," Hunk told him, crossing his arms, "Stay here, I'm gonna go tell him to talk to you."

Keith was about to protest but Hunk walked away, closing the door most of the way, causing Keith to whine and beat his head against the door frame. There were grumbles coming from inside, and heavy, tired footsteps stumbling around, along with the pouring of coffee and creamer. The steps slowly approached the door, and the door opened, revealing Lance. 

Lance who was currently sporting grey sweatpants, no shirt, and a mess of curly bed head. Keith shuddered slightly and looked down and away. 

"I'm sorry," Keith said before Lance could speak," about yesterday."

Lance's eyebrows furrowed, "Why?"

"Because I-I didn't ask! And that's just... ew, god I'm sorry," Keith sighed. 

"Keith, you really are an idiot," Lance sighed, "It's fine, I... I liked it."

Keith felt his face heat up instantly and he had to gently pat at it to make sure his face wasn't quite literally. Lance must've realized what he did and laughed gently before gently persuading Keith to look at him with his hand. 

"You know, I really need to know what that kiss meant," he whispered, face close to Keith's, "Will you tell me?"

"Not yet," he replied, just as quietly.

Lance searches Keith's eyes for a minute before pulling away, "Ok, I understand. You're going to see Shiro, right?"

"Yeah," Keith nodded, "Hunk told me where he is."

"Ok, well, drive safe I guess," he said and Keith nodded. 

"Uh, yeah," Keith nodded, starting to walk off. 

"Oh, and Keith," Lance called, causing Keith to turn around, and with a wink, Lance said, "You look good today."

With that, he slammed the door shut, leaving a flustered Keith to rush down the halls and back onto his bike, all the while muttering about how stupid Lance was. 

The drive to the boutique was, luckily, much faster, though Keith might've been mildly speeding and swerving between cars. It only took him seven minutes to get to his second destination and when he knocked on the door, Shay was immediately there. 

She was in a simple green dress with soft yellow stripes going from the hems of the sleeves down her torso. She had in big, heavy, thick hoops hanging from her ears and a necklace with a chunky blue, glowing crystal on her neck. 

"Oh my! We were so worried about you! Are you ok? You did not get injured, did you," She asked, looking worried as she checked his body. 

"I'm fine Shay, thanks for asking," Keith smiled slightly, "Is Shiro still here?"

"Yes! He's been worried about you," she frowned, "We will give you privacy."

He thanked her as she led him into the back where Shiro was, pulling Coran and Allura out soon after. It was silent between the two brothers, tension rising, especially from Shiro who was obviously angry. 

He was in a simple white tank top and black sweatpants. Keith wasn't sure where he got either of the two but the look on Shiro's face told him not to question it. 

"What were you thinking Keith," he asked, brows pushed together, "Seriously, why did you-"

"I'm sorry," Keith said quietly, "I-I really fucked up, I know and I-"

Shiro stopped him, "Are you ok?"

"I- Y-," Keith whined and threw himself at his brother, burying his face into the other man's chest, "Nooo. I really really really fuck up Shiro! God! I fucking lost my shit and then- ugh I stole your car! And then the cop-"

"Cop? What happened with a cop?"

"-and then Lance! Oh my god, why did I do that?! God Shiro, why am I like this? I hate that I did that and your gonna hate me too, and-"

"Keith, calm down. Tell me what happened," Shiro frowned, he hated seeing his brother so distraught. 

"Fuckin- huuuuuu," Keith moaned, "I'm sorry."

"Hey, no, it's ok. Come on, talk to me," Shiro said. 

"I just- I don't know why I did it but he said his sister would paint the picture and," Keith sniffed lightly, "I don't know... I... I kissed him like some kind of idiot."

"Hey, no, you're not an idiot Keith. Have you talked about it with him?"

"Yeah."

"And?"

"He... said that he liked it and I... I don't want to rush into another relationship," he murmured, causing Shiro to blink. 

"Really? I'm-"

"I know, I'm doing it partially for you, and partially myself," he said, "I think you're right, I do need to calm down when it comes to dating and sex."

Shiro smiled softly, "I'm proud of you, Keith. But that doesn't let you off for stealing my car, you're grounded."

"What?! You're kidding! Shiro, I'm 23," Keith cried. 

"And I can't drive with only one arm but it's still my car! You're doing the dishes when we get home, by the way," he smiled. 

"Ugh, fine," Keith groaned. 

"Hey, Keith?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you, lil bro."

"I love you, too, Shiro but you're not 'gangsta' enough to say 'lil bro'," Keith snorted, earning a noogie from Shiro. 

—

Unknown

Footsteps against cold metal floors. They stopped soon after. He heard the other kneel. 

"Emperor, the deed has been done," they stated. 

"And? How did it go," the emperor asked gruffly, voice like gravel. 

There was a pause. 

"N-Not good, sire. They seem to have developed powers-," the guard started. 

"Powers?"

"Yes, sire. Elemental powers, mostly. One can control water, another earth, another plant life, one fire, and the last seems to be able to control the gravity of certain objects," they said.

The emperor gave a displeased hum before saying, "Tell the scientists to make another batch, this clearly isn't going as planned."

"What? Why? What would we do with another batch that did not work," the guard asked, surprised by the sudden change in plans. 

"Simple," he stated, smirking evilly, "I'll have them injected into my own people."

"But sure-!"

"And for your backlash, you will go first," he nearly laughed. 

"No! Y-You can't," the guard yelled as two others dragged him out, "Emperor! Emperor Zarkon!"

And the doors closed.


	8. Chapter 8

Keith

As soon as Keith walked into the boutique three months after stealing Shiro's car, he knew everything was really about to become real. The mood was stiff and stern, almost like they had just entered war. 

"Look who decided to finally show up! It's been like, a year, mullet," Lance joked, earning a glare from the shorter. 

"Yeah, for the first time, if it were you it'd be what? The tenth time this month," he smirked back. 

"My ninth, thank you very much," the first bowed jokingly, getting a chuckle out of Keith. 

"Anyway, Princess, what are we doing today," he asked, crossing his arms. 

She looked down, gently fiddling with her hijab, "It's not going to be the nicest of day, paladins. Today... today we learned that the Galra has sent a machine to earth. It will get here soon, so your first official battle is soon to occur."

"Wait, shouldn't we train more? I mean we barely can use our powers, let's be honest," Hunk asked, voice wavering in fear. 

"It due to land on earth in only ninety minutes, there isn't time," Coran said. 

"Well, what about the real us? People know us around here! We can't just go about waving our powers around while we look normal, the government will come after us and if mi Mamá warned me about anything, it's the US government," Lance said, distraught and scared. 

Everyone gave him an odd look before Allura grabbed their attention again, "Well, I do have an idea. It's quite a cliche, but Coran and I created some costumes for you all!"

"Really?! Cool," Lance smiled excitedly. 

"If you really think about the situation we're in, it's really not," Pidge murmured as they all headed into the back.

They entered the back, it was a small, tight area. Only enough room for a bench built into a wall, it was right under a bar and shelf for shoes and clothes. A set of stairs led to the upper level. 

While Hunk, Pidge, Shiro, Allura, Coran, Shay, and Lance seemed completely fine, Keith was extremely confused. The last time he came back here, there was a large open room with a bed and other, branching off rooms. 

Allura put her hand on the back wall and the area around her hand began to glow. Keith, Pidge, Lance, and Hunk all stared in amazement as it disappeared, revealing the room that Keith had originally seen. 

"Has this been here the entire time," Hunk asked Shay, making her frown. 

"Yes. I truly am sorry, Hunk," she replied, "There's... still much you do not know about me."

Hunk frowned alongside her, "I forgive you, and I understand. Just tell me at some point, yeah?"

"Of course," she nodded. 

"Alright, Paladins! Welcome to HQ, if anyone ever calls a meetup, come here as fast as possible. Your suits are also kept in here at the moment," she smirked as five, large, cylindrical tubes rose from the ground, exposing the suits. 

Shiro's suit was full body, the right arm being much shorter than the rest to make room for his new mechanical arm. It was completely black other than the dark purple sheen and the purple V-shaped symbol that the team decided on for the Voltron symbol. His boots were built into the suit, the area above the toes, as well as the soles, were a deep purple and made of some sort of metal. 

Shiro, being the leader, got his suit and changed first. He came back out from the bathroom a few minutes later, a deep blush on his face as he covered his crotch. 

"I have one issue," he grumbled unhappily.

Keith looked away with disgust on his face, Hunk and Shay stared at each other in hopes of distraction, Allura tried not to laugh as she covered her gaze slightly, Coran seemed unfazed, while Pidge and Lance were desperately trying to keep themselves together. 

"A-Ah, yes, I forgot to give you your groin protection," she giggled, holding it out to him. 

He scowled and pulled one hand away, squishing his thighs together in some hopes of hiding anything as he snatched it and waddled out of the room. Pidge and Lance were practically howling with laughter as he left. Lance eventually crouched down and pressed the palms of his hands together. 

"Oh my god, some good kush right there," he laughed, "Is it bad that it was kinda hot?"

Keith roughly kicked him over, continuing to kick at him until Pidge fell down as well, holding their stomach as they tried not to cry. 

"Fuck! Oh god please stop," they cried, "I'm gonna piss myself, I'm gonna fucking piss."

Keith, though reluctant, stopped kicking Lance as Pidge took deep breaths. They soon slightly pulled themself together, grabbing their suit and rushing to the bathroom as Shiro exited. He blushed some and hunched over in a corner, brooding from embarrassment. 

Pidge came out soon after. Their suit was similar, tight to their body with the Voltron v-shape across their chest. The collar of their suit was green, as well as the ends to their short sleeves, the bottoms of their shorts, and the tops, sides, and the front side of the shins. 

"Allura, Coran, I bless you," they smiled as they walked out, jumping up and down on their toes, "A built-in binder? I'm guessing it's easily breathable and it won't break or bend my ribs?"

"Nope," Coran smiled brightly, "Altean's were very aware of their transgender communities! Binders were one of the first things to be experimented on for a healthier, safer option."

Hunk went next. He grabbed his suit and quickly headed into the restroom. He came out only a few minutes later. 

His suit was much like Shiro's, it was full body, and a yellow version of the Voltron V on his chest. The suit was sleeveless and he had on fingerless gloves that were yellow as well as the tops of his boots and, of course, the bandana that tied back his hair. 

"It's so comfy! I thought it would feel super tight but it's actually really nice," Hunk smiled. 

"You look great, Hunkster," Lance complimented him before turning to Keith, "Ladies first."

"Fuckfaces second," Keith replied with a smirk. 

Keith grabbed his suit and headed into the bathroom. It took him a few minutes to put it on and he was a little embarrassed when he came out, they really were skin tight. 

His suit, like the others, was black with red undertones and had a red Voltron V across the chest. It was sleeveless but he had on fingerless gloves that went halfway up his arms, the parts that were actually covering his hands were black and the rest were red. His boots are were red halfway up his calves and, like everyone else's, built into the suit. 

"It's actually really nice," Keith said, "but it feels.... very exposing."

Shiro gave him a look and Keith glared at him. Keith was changing from his old self. 

"Ok, my turn," Lance sang excitedly. 

He ran into the bathroom and Hunk laughed a little. Seeing his friend so excited about this was pretty funny. 

He came out soon after, not seeming nearly as excited, but still enthused. His suit was sleeveless as well, and his gloves, oddly, only covered his palms and fingers, not the top of his hands. His boots were blue and reached the backs of his knees, the blue sloping down into a v-shape in the front of his shins, halfway down. 

"Ok Paladins," Allura chimed up, "The last two parts of your suits! The first is your masks."

Coran brought the five of them their masks, each correlating to their designated color and lined in black. Everyone put them on, letting them easily stick to their faces as everything quickly flashed white before going back to normal. The five looked at each other and their eyes had changed to their respective colors. 

"These will help protect your identities, try not to show who you are, we wouldn't want any interference," she spoke, "Next are these, they're worn as bracelets but are vital and you can never take them off after today."

Coran came bye once more and put them on each of the paladins, locking the thin metal onto their wrists. It's was made of a white metal and on the inside of the wrist was a rhombus with a glowing blue stone. 

"If you press the two stones together, the suit will be removed off of your body and stored within the bracelet. Press them together again and it will reappear on your body. Make sure to hold them together for three seconds for putting them on or taking them off," she informed them and they all pressed their wrists together. 

Lance frowned as he watched the suit disappear towards his wrists, enhancing his frown. He got up and headed to the door. 

"I need to go outside," he murmured before walking outside. 

The others watched as he left. Only looking back when there was a soft grunt as Hunk got up from his sitting position. 

"I'll go check on him," he said and headed outside to Lance. 

The two were silent for a moment before Lance began to speak. Compared to the hustle and bustle of the city streets right outside of the otherwise quiet alley they were standing in, Lance's voice was quiet.

"What if we die," he asked. 

Hunk was taken aback, "What?"

"The possibility is there a-a-and it's no longer a 'What if' situation, it's a 'When' situation," Lance scowled, "We're so so young, Hunk, and we're gonna die. I won't be able to see my family or start one..."

"Lance, you can literally create and freeze a ball of ice with just a thought. I've seen Shiro lift two cars with his mind, and I've seen Pidge catch a flying arrow with a plant she magically created. Keith lit a truck on fire with the snap of his fingers, and I literally created a dome of rocks around us," Hunk exclaimed, "We're gonna be alright."

"I don't know," Lance murmured, "I have a really bad feeling for the future..."


	9. Chapter 9

"Paladins! Put on your suits now! The Galra's beast is here, " Coran yelled out, "it's on J Street at the moment, so get there quick!"

The five nodded, quickly transforming into their suits and heading up to the roof of the building. They all headed to J Street, running across the tops of buildings to where their first battle was.

"Ok, Paladins," Shiro said into a small coms they all had, "Keith, attack the creature from above. Lance, get everyone out of there and to safety, be fire control as well. Hunk, start to create walls around it so it can't escape. Pidge, try and tie it down, make it harder to move. I'll be attacking with what I can."

"On it," Lance called, leaping down to the ground. 

Allura has talked to them more about their suits and what abilities they have. One of them was that the suits absorbed almost all shock and taking falls did virtually no damage to the body, so landing on the pavement after a five-story fall felt like taking a leap off of your bed. 

As soon as Lance landed, he laughed and looked up at the others, waving with a large grin before sprinting off. That's when he first really looked at the monster, and oh god, was it horrifying. 

It was huge, at least two stories tall and four car lanes wide. It almost looked humanoid, mostly because it had five, distinct appendages, along with a thick tail. Its entire body was purple and spots of yellow blood dripped down the sides of its body. It walked on all fours, it's knees bending to make room for its arms to touch the ground. It also looked like its body was bloated with muscle, its face even taken over by the texture, as well as what looked like blisters of exposed flesh that balled up on the surface of the skin, nearly covering some of its several eyes. The creature let out a yowl as bullets from the police came from most angles, its long, deep indigo tongue lashed about of its mouth, the spit of the same color flying about. 

Hunk and Pidge started on their tasks, and Keith was careful about his attacks, meaning Lance had to really get going. So he picked up his feet and ran to the nearest building that looked like it hadn't been touched by cops or firefighters yet. A few people tried to grab him, stop him from getting inside, but he was there to help, and that's what he planned on doing.

He ran into a few of the rooms and offices, they were mostly undamaged other than dishes and anything loose falling over and breaking or shattering, before he heard screams and cries for help. Lance quickly ran towards the voices, soon coming upon an office filled with around ten people. 

"U-uh, I'm here to help," he stated, getting their attention.

"Thank god," A women jumped up, "Please help, please help! I-I brought my daughter here, sh-she wanted to see how programming worked and since it's the weekend I thought 'why not'? But then, oh god- she's hurt. Something fell on her, a cabinet, and now- she can nearly breathe."

"Hey, it's gonna be ok, alright? I'll get her to safety. Everyone helped carry the injured out, if there are others left inside, I come back in just a minute," he said and the people that were injured were gathered towards him.

The mother helped lift her kid with another guy, and the four other people had one person on each side of them. Luckily that was just enough people to get everyone out at once, so Lance leads them towards the door to the outside. 

He peaked his head out of the door to see exactly where and how the monster was. It was, of course, facing towards them, making Lance curse slightly. He looked around before spotting a fire hydrant nearby, so he reached out his hand and concentrated for a second before it burst off of its spot and the water began to shoot towards him, a large glob forming in front of him. He stopped collecting water after a few seconds and turned it into a thick, long shield of ice. 

"Stay close behind me," he instructed everyone before touching his earpiece to talk to the others, "I need someone to help cover me, I have a shield but I don't feel like it's enough."

"Coming," Shiro replied, running to where Lance was, grabbing a piece of rubble from a crushed building with his power and chucking it into one of the eyes of the monster, making it howl. 

The Blue Paladin began to move, looking behind himself to make sure everyone was following him. He was met by wide eyes and fearful looks, making him frown. 

"What are you," a man asked shakily. 

"Let's just say every villain needs a hero," he replied, "Now follow me."

They began to move towards the hole that Hunk had made in his barriers for everyone to get out. He rushed everyone out before turning around and throwing spears of ice at the monster, letting them dig into its skin. 

Keith saw that everyone was out and smirked, jumping onto the back of the monster and slamming his hands on its back, boiling a hole through its skin. Shiro groaned at his brother's stupid move, throwing another block of cement at the creature. 

"Ok, I have an idea," Shiro started, "Lance, father as much water as you can, encase its head in ice and then I'll smash it with a piece of rubble."

"We're going to kill it," Lance asked quietly. 

"Those were our orders," Keith replied gruffly, "We have to."

Lance hesitated but soon complied, pulling as much water as he could from all of the fire hydrants around. He gathered an enormous ball in front of himself, moving it towards the creatures head. Once it surrounded its head, the creature thrashed, trying to get away. Lance froze the water, continuing to freeze more and more, pushing as much as he could into freezing whatever he could as Shiro lifted a massive piece of rubble. He grunted, forcing the object high above the creatures head before letting it go, allowing gravity to slam it into the monster, shattering its head. 

And Lance collapsed, falling to the floor and using all of his will power to not throw up. He was exhausted, nearly falling asleep right then and there. Pidge was quick to show up by his side. 

"Lance? Are you ok?! What happened," they asked spitfire. 

"Jus' tired," he murmured and tried to stand, beginning to collapse again before Hunk caught him. 

"Don't worry, buddy, we'll get you to bed," he said before Lance blacked out. 

Suddenly there were loud sirens and people were around them. Shiro quickly ordered the Yellow Paladin to boost them up the roofs, he did so, all getting on the roof before the pillars were slammed back down, and then they ran off back to their base. Once there, they laid Lance on the couch and all took their masks off with sighs of relief, jumping when Allura came in and yelled at them. 

"What are you doing? Don't just put him on the couch! Get him into the bath right now," she scolded them all, causing Shiro to immediately pick him up, bringing him into the bathroom, while Hunk drew a bath, "I must've forgotten to tell you. With every power, there's, of course, a weakness, as there is in everything. You can only heal in certain environments, Lance's being water. Of course, if you do get another power, it shouldn't affect how you heal."

“Right,” Hunk started, ”So am I going to have to be buried alive because I have an issue with that.”

It was silent for a minute and Allura gave him a look before speaking again. 

“No, but you should be surrounded by rocks and dirt, mud baths should be great! Pidge, anywhere in nature should be good, along with this shop. Shiro, I’m not sure what we’ll end up doing with you...” (AKA PLEASE HELP THE AUTHOR)

“What about Keith? What are we supposed to do with him? Put him in the fireplace,” Pidge snorted. 

“Yes actually,” Allura replied, trying to hide her smile with her pink hijab, ”His body has become completely fire resistant after all.”

Keith glowered slightly, ”Haha, I get to be shoved in a small space, so funny. How long is it until Lance is better?”

“Not much longer, maybe an hour,” Allura guessed. 

“Why? Worried about your boyfriend,” Pidge joked, dragging out the last word.

“Looking to get set on fire,” he bit back. 

“Calm down, buddy, he’ll be fine,” Shiro patted his back as Keith crossed his arms. 

“This was our first mission, we weren’t supposed to get hurt,” he mumbled. 

“He’ll be ok, just overworked himself,” Coran reassured him, ”Extremely, to something I’ve never seen before!”

“Aaaand you ruined it,” Hunk laughed.


	10. Chapter 10

Lance awoke a few hours later, dizzy, and still tired, but awake nonetheless. He had changed into an off white shirt, a dark grey-ish teal long sleeved button up over it, simple blue jeans, and his usual blue, black, and white shoes. At that moment, he was rearranging his hair and checking his face for any blemishes. 

The others were off doing their own things, allowing Lance to take his time in the bathroom. He splashed his face with cold water, staring at himself in the mirror, the events of the day passing through his head. He almost died, he was so close to death and it was just the first fight, he just wanted to call his mom. 

The Cuban sighed, knowing he couldn't tell his mother, it wasn't an option. He stared at himself in the mirror once more before leaving the restroom, immediately bumping into his leader, Shiro. He was in a simple white shirt and black jeans, a black sleeve and glove-covered his prosthetic arm as to not draw attention. 

"Oh, Lance! I was just coming to check on you, how are you feeling," the elder asked. 

"Uh, exhausted honestly," the other laughed gently. 

"I'm sure anyone would be, what would take at least a month to heal you did in an hour," Shiro explained. 

"Oh jeez," Lance sighed, "That's a lot to.... process."

"Hunk is cooking something up for you back at your dorm, Keith and I will drive you home," the taller patted his shoulder. 

"Perfect, I wanna stuff my face and then pass out."

The two laughed and headed to the front where they found Keith sitting on the window bench, scrolling through some app on his phone. He was adorned in a white shirt with the NASA logo on it, black jeans, and red plaid flannel, his hair in a low ponytail. 

"Ready to go," Keith asked as he stood up. 

"Yep! I'm driving," Shiro jumped in, quickly swiping the keys off of the counter and waving goodbye to Shay. 

Keith rolled his eyes with a smile, looking at Lance before they followed after Shiro who was way too excited to drive. Keith didn't allow him to drive when he first got his new arm, unsure of how well it really worked. As soon as they got in the car -Shiro and Keith up front while Lance sat in the back- Shiro started it up, pulling out and quickly heading down the road. 

"So you're feeling better," Shiro asked, looking in the rearview mirror at the boy. 

"Uh yeah, a little woozy, nothing a nap won't fix though," he replied. 

"Well that's good, no weird side effects though," he questioned. 

"Well I did wake up recently with the ability to manipulate and be healed by water, but overall I'm pretty much Gucci," he joked, getting a soft snort out of Keith and a chuckle from the older man. 

"Good enough," the oldest laughed. 

The rest of the ride was mostly quiet, a few words shared between the three. Once they got to the dorms and parked, Keith offered to take Lance up to his dorm. The walk to the dorm was quiet, but as soon as they stopped in front of the correct dorm, they stopped and stared at each other for a second. 

Keith gently hugged the taller boy, "You scared me," he murmured, "so much."

"Sorry," he replied lowly, wrapping his arms around the other's waist.

"Don't apologize, just....try not to let it happen again," the older sighed. 

"It wasn't really trying to," Lance joked. 

"Not funny, asshole," Keith snorted, punching his arm and pulling away slightly, "but seriously, I'm supposed to be the reckless one."

"Excuse you, I'm the one who reckless! I'm like constantly doing stupid shit," the taller rolled his eyes. 

"I can do stupid shit as well," the ravenette smirked. 

"Oh? Hmm, like what," Lance tempted, a mischievous look in his eyes. 

"You," he replied. 

"Wow, really? Calling me stupid shit are we now?"

"No, you're stupid but caring, and that can lead to nothing good," the shorter sighed, looking up at the other sadly. 

They stared at each other for a second, searching for something neither of them new. Keith let out a breath before leaning up and pressing his lips to Lance's chastely, concern and worry obvious. 

"Don't hurt yourself," he mumbled before walking off back to the elevator. 

He beat his head against the elevator walls until he was let out. As soon as he got in the car, though, he continued. It was quiet there for all of four seconds before Shiro spoke up. 

"Sooo, you and Lance," he asked carefully. 

"Ugh... I don't know," Keith sighed. 

"What do you mean," the first asked, raising a brow. 

"We've kissed a few times and flirted so much, but... I don't know," Keith sighed, "I think I'm gonna wait a little while."

Shiro took a breath and smiled, happy. 

~~

"Don't hurt yourself," he mumbled before walking off back to the elevator.

Lance was left with still tingling lips and a want for more. He closed his eyes and shook it aside, turning to unlock the door and walk in only to find Pidge and Hunk in the living room, smiling at him. 

"If this is some kind of prank or something, I'm not really in the mood, I literally almost just died," the Cuban sighed. 

"No no, nothing like that, Lance," Pidge said in a high voice. 

"Guyyyssss! I'm really not in the mood," the boy cried. 

"No no, we just uhh saw... you and uh Keith... doin' a smoochie smooch," Hunk said in the same high voice. 

"Yeah," Lance sighed. 

"Shouldn't that be a good thing," Hunk asked, voice normal again. 

"Yeah, but we haven't said anything about it to one another, and like, I don't know, he just got out of a relationship... er what he thought was a relationship," he mumbled out the last part, "Point being I don't wanna rush him into anything... I'm just gonna go to bed now."

"Alright, don't beat yourself up," Hunk frowned. 

"Yeah, we're here for you man," Pidge added.

"Yeah... I know," Lance sighed, "I'm gonna take a nap."

With that, he left, heading to his room where he stripped of his clothes and fell into bed, quickly falling asleep. The next time he woke up, Hunk was at his side, gently shaking him awake. 

"Hey, you should get ready for class," he said quietly. 

"Mmm, no," he huffed before sitting up, "Ok, fine, god why does school exist?"

"Education," Pidge shouted in they're "All Might" voice. 

"Ok ok, I need to take a shower, will you boot gremlin out of there for me," Lance asked and Hunk nodded before going off to push Pidge out of the bathroom. 

Lance stretched, sighing as his joints popped and his muscles let out a bit of the soreness they held from the fight two days before. He quickly stood, satisfied by the fact that he felt lighter, he decided that meant it was gonna be a good day. 

He gathered his outfit for the day: a black long sleeve, a white NASA t-shirt, a black and white Houndstooth patters button up, black jeans, and his usual black, white, and blue shoes. He grabbed a towel as well, heading to the bathroom which was already vacant. After a quick shower, a lot of thinking, some breakfast, and other morning norms, the three were out the door and to their classes.

The campus was already bustling, and the main buzz was, of course, about the battle. Lance smiled slightly, most people were talking about how scared they were but added that they felt a little better with people with powers protecting them. There were also those who didn't trust the people with powers, saying that what was the difference between them and the monster, or wondering why they were never discovered before this. 

"Hey Lance, what's your opinion on this," Tadaaki asked. 

"I think they're cool, they seem good," he replied awkwardly. 

"Well duh," Markus groaned, "Of course they're cool! But what do you think happened to them for them to be like they are? Like are they aliens? Or another government conspiracy?"

"They're definitely created by the government," Brent cut in, "Hunk, Pidge, you agree with me, right?"

"Nope, they're probably just normos with special abilities," Pidge shrugged and Hunk nodded, chewing on his thumb. 

Tadaaki, Markus, and Brent gave the three odd looks and they all said, "You guys suck..."

"Or maybe... you know something about them," Tadaaki joked, laughing afterward.

The three tended and Lance awkwardly said in a high pitch voice, "Yeah right, as if! Anyway, class is gonna start soon so we should start paying attention!"

By some grace of God, the professor bounced in. He was a peppy, short old shit that played way too many games but always got his student do so much better than they ever thought they could. His name was Grant Torina but his old person accent made it sound more like Gran Torino. 

While the lecture had started, Lance was stuck on the topic beforehand. Had someone already figured it out? Was he that obvious? Was the government going to conduct tests on him? Was his family going to find out? Would they hate him? Would they be scared of him? With all these questions and more swarming and buzzing through his mind, he felt the light feeling again, but much, much stronger. Suddenly, Hunk slammed his backpack on Lance's lap, surprising the boy. 

"What the fuck, man," he pouted. 

"You're fucking floating," Hunk hissed, turning white. 

"What?! But that's Shiro's thing," Lance whispered back. 

"Oh gosh," Hunk whined, "What If we just switch every so often?"

"That's just stupid," Pidge deadpanned, "Coran talked about a second power, maybe they're already appearing?"

"So why me first," Lance cried, "I don't like this anymore!"

"MCCLAIN, HOLT, GARRETT! If there's something more important than this class going on, you're free to leave," Professor Gagne frowned. 

"Yes sir," Pidge popped up, grabbing their things. 

Hunk picked Lance up and the three ran out to their car. They needed to figure out yet another thing. 

(Happy Easter/Normal Sunday everyone!!)


	11. Chapter 11

Ok things were moving a lot faster and before Keith knew it, three more months had passed. During that time he was looking at colleges, fighting more and more dangerous monsters, working, training his powers, hanging out and bonding with the team, stealing kisses from Lance, working more, fighting more, sleeping, more training, looking colleges again, more kisses from Lance, more fighting, more looking, more, more, more. And while it was a lot, Keith was selfish and wanted more, specifically kissed from Lance, he wanted so much more. 

Speaking of Lance, he was the first to get his second power, flight. While on the outside, his a Shiro's powers seemed similar, they weren't. Lance could make himself fly, while Shiro could control the gravity on an object. 

Next was Pidge, which came as a huge surprise. All she had done was plug her computer in, a small spark cane from the socket, and she was gone. A second later she came tumbling out of a now blown-up light, landing on top of Allura with a loud thwack. She could travel through electricity. 

Hunk was next. He ran to Lance late at night, sobbing his eyes out because his skin had turned to cast iron. The two were very freaked out for a minute before they realized it was a new power. His skin could turn into whatever material he touched. 

That left Shiro and Keith, both of which would happen in equally embarrassing ways. Keith, sadly was first. 

—

It was a Friday night, Shiro had gone out with a few friends and to go to a bar and Keith was supposed to work until three in the morning that night but the shop ended up closing due to a major family emergency of the manager. 

Keith was in the kitchen around midnight, toasting a few Eggos when Shiro bursted through the door, along with another person, someone Keith did not recognize. 

"Is your brother here," the stranger asked, mildly out of breath. 

"Lemme check," Shiro mumbled, in the same condition, more tussled if anything. 

He quickly glanced around the living room, and kitchen, to which Keith waved. Shiro turned and walked towards his brother's room, peeking in to see nothing. Keith assumed his brother was just a bit too drunk to see him. 

"He's gone," Shiro smirked, and immediately the other was on him. 

The two shared passionate, hungry kisses, that made Keith gag a little -did he and Lance look like that? Hopefully not. He quickly grabbed a plate and Eggos when the stranger slammed Shiro against a wall and ground up against him, pulling deep moans from the two. 

Something must've happened, because one moment the two were all over each other and the next Shiro was wide-eyed and awkward, quickly shoving his new partner towards his room. 

"I'll be right back, I uh, have something I need to do," Keith heard as he headed to his room. 

Shiro was quick to run into his brother, tumbling the two to the ground in Keith's room. Shiro jumped up and closed to door before looking around. 

"Keith," he whispered, a bit of fear in his voice. 

"I'm right here, fuck-face," Keith groaned. 

"Fuck, I'm- ugh," Shiro whined childishly,"So this is new..."

"What are you talking about," Keith whined,"and who are you with?"

"That's not- ok ok ok," Shiro sighed,"You haven't noticed?"

"Noticed what," Keith asked. 

Shiro grabbed Keith's mirror off his wall and showed it to Keith. No reflection. Keith's eyes widened. 

"I'm a vampire," Keith murmured. 

"Wha- No! Keith, you're fucking invisible," Shiro moaned. 

"Oh... Oh!"

"Yeah, so go over to Hunk's or the café, please leave," Shiro asked.

"Shiro! It's midnight," Keith groaned.

"I don't care," Shiro whispered angrily,"I brought a hot guy for a reason, I wanna get destroyed and I don't want my brother to be around while that's happening."

"Ugh fiiine, you owe me big time though," Keith sighed, grabbing his phone, charger, and Eggos. 

"Yeah yeah yeah, whatever, just leave," Shiro rushed him. 

Keith just barely grabbed his shoes and keys before he was pushed out the door, causing him to let out a sigh before heading to his bike. Once on, he pulled on a helmet and looked at his hands, almost completely translucent, almost just a memory of his hands left. 

"I'll be fine, sometimes people just need to see a..... floating helmet riding a motorcycle," he sighed, of course he was just in one of Shiro's old hand-me-down t-shirt's, boxers, and mismatch flip flops. 

He started his bike up and quickly headed over to the Garrison, where he parked his bike in a bush. He was sad to say, he did cause an accident on the way over, a red light and a very surprised looking person didn't always make the best combination. 

He quickly found his way up the stairs and to Pidge, Hunk, and Lance's apartment, where he quickly knocked several times. Lance was the one to answer the door, glass of apple juice in hand and looking half asleep.

"Uh... hey, Lance," Keith said awkwardly. 

"Keith," he mumbled out, obviously still half asleep. 

"Yeah, so we found out my...," he trailed off when Lance gestured him in. 

"Newest power? Alright, cool, let's go to bed," he murmured. 

"Alright, do you have a blanket I can use," the first asked. 

Lance whined out a sound of thought,"I don't know, just come with me."

Keith blinked, then followed as Lance headed to his room. Keith wasn't exactly a stranger to Lance's room, he knew about the pictures of Lance's family, who he missed dearly, and how soft his bed sheets were, and his secret stash of Monopoly money under his bed -he never learned the story behind that, along with a few other things, but most the time when he was in here it was because Lance's lips were on his and it was the only thing he could think of. 

Lance flopped down onto his bed, awkwardly crawling under the covers before opening some of the blankets for Keith. 

"I don't think-," Keith started. 

"Keith, just get in," Lance stopped him. 

He stopped for a second, but then got in, pulling the covers over him. Lance pulled him close, allowing Keith to be pushed into the other's chest. The smaller reluctantly accepted it. Was this too intimate? Was this too much? What were they? Stop thinking. Just accept it. Just for tonight. 

Keith quickly sunk into the mattress, shoving himself further into Lance's chest, Lance's scent. It was almost intoxicating and the boy wouldn't want it any other way, so he took after Lance and drifted off into a deep sleep. 

The next time Keith awoke, Lance was still next to him, an arm under the smaller boy as he scrolled through Instagram. Keith stretched shakily before pushing himself into Lance again. 

"Welcome to the land of the living and visible, Keith," Lance joked, setting his phone down. 

"Guh mornig," Keith mumbled. 

It was silent for a second before Keith let out a loud groan and thrashed around, sitting up and slamming himself back down on to the bed. Lance raised a brow at him. 

"You good?"

"I don't wanna be awake," he whined and roughly cuddled back into Lance. 

"You're so weird," the Cuban laughed, kissing Keith's head gently. 

Keith paused for a minute, fear striking through him. Lance must've noticed he tended because he shifted to look at the older boy more directly. 

"Hey, what's up? Did I do something," he asked gently, to which Keith shook his head no, so Lance continued,"What's bothering you?"

Keith let out a sigh and turned his face away from Lance, pressing his face into the bed,"What are we."

Lance gently guided Keith's face to look at him,"What do you want us to be?"

Keith bit his lip and thought for a second,"I don't know... just not fuck buddies, please."

"No, of course not," Lance replied,"but more that friends?"

"I don't know if I should get into another relationship yet. Shiro was right about me taking a break, but I don't know if I should get beach into one quite yet," Keith mumbled. 

"We could test the waters," Lance offered,"I take you on a few dates, you take me on a few dates, you decide what you're ready for."

Keith looks at him and smiles,"Yeah, ok, I really like that plan."

"Well you know, that's my thing, making excellent plans," Lance joked and boasted,"and I may have another plan you may quite enjoy."

"Oh?"

"Wanna make out?"

"Classy as ever McClain."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever just kiss me."

Keith laughed as he straddled the other boy, cupping his cheeks as he locked his lips with Lance's. The Cuban gently gripped the Korean's hips, massaging them and allowing his hands to slip higher up. While they were quite handsy -Keith's hands trailing from his cheeks to his neck to his chest where he vigorously traced every nook and cranny of the boy's muscles and collarbones- their kisses were languid, soft, and tired.

Only days after such a great occurrence, they were back at it again, though for a much different reason. Lance was currently practically viciously attacking Keith, quietly cursing the boy out at he roughly groped Keith's thighs, hips, and ass and roughly bit and sucked as his neck. Keith pulled a super fucking stupid move, in Lance's defense, getting swallowed by a monster and melting the creature from the inside out only to have to spend an entire night in a fire pit to regain some energy wasn't all that smart. 

At the moment though, it felt totally worth it. Shiro had driven the two home, Lance saying that he was concerned for his "soon-to-be-Shmoopie". Of course this was a complete lie, because as soon as the door was closed, Lance's entire demeanor changed into something much angrier. He only gave a short warning to be silent before he tossed Keith on the bed and began to completely take hold of the other.

"Just don't take anything off," Keith groaned. 

"Ok," Lance murmured,"Can I put my hands under your clothes?"

"Not under my boxers," he murmured. 

For the next few minutes, Lance was all over the smaller man, making both of their minds go rampant. This, sadly, only lasted so long because suddenly there were pounding knocks on the door. 

"Can you guys shut the hell up," Shiro yelled. 

Keith growled,"We weren't even making any noise! And like you can say shit!"

"It's late, I'm old, please just let me sleep," Shiro sighed. 

"We weren't making noise," Keith said again. 

"Yeah sure, just be quiet," he hissed. 

'Fuckin stupid old man,' Keith thought to himself as he rolled his eyes. 

"I heard that, you brat," the older shouted down the hall. 

Keith's eyes widened and he shot up, running to his door and peaking out. 

"Wait! I think I know what's going on!"

Keith glared at Shiro, thinking 'Maybe a new power? If you can't hear this then I just look like a dumbass...'

"Oh! Oh," Shiro said, pointing at Keith,"Yooo! I can read minds!"

"Yeah no shit. So figure out how to stop so I don't have to constantly have to worry about what I'm thinking about," Keith frowned.

"And on that note," Lance mumbled,"I will be taking him back."

With that, Lance pulled Keith back into the bed, giving the smaller boy just enough time to close the door before his neck was assaulted with tickle-y kisses.


End file.
